The real obstacle to climate action

Distributional issues – not aggregate costs – are the real obstacle to the ambitious policies needed to avert possibly catastrophic climate change

Emissions continue to increase

Climate change is probably the biggest threat facing humanity today. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world must cut its carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 in order to prevent global warming of 1.5°C, or likely more, above pre-industrial levels in this century.

The challenge calls for drastic immediate action, because the infrastructure investments the world makes today will determine the carbon intensity of its growth ...