The world has warmed by about 1.3 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution,1 with the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment report painting an urgent picture which was widely reported as “code red for humanity”: It is now unequivocal that human influence has caused widespread and rapid changes to the planet, affecting weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. Unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur soon, global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century.
These alarming changes include extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and intense tropical cyclones, as well as warming oceans that lead to marine heatwaves and changes in sea levels, threatening coastal communities. Arctic sea ice, snow cover, and permafrost are also decreasing, worsening climate change effects. Some past and future greenhouse gas emissions are irreversible, others will last for centuries.2
Rajiv Shah
Coming together to tackle climate change
With the climate crisis, we face the largest existential crisis to human well-being — but in the last few years alone, we have shown that we can tackle this crisis at scale in certain parts of the world. Now is our opportunity to make a commitment to solve the climate crisis — not just in wealthy nations, but all over the planet — and ensure that vulnerable populations are supported and able to avoid a catastrophic outcome. I’m hopeful that we can make it a reality, but the time to act is now.
It's crucial to act on climate change now, because the things we do in the next three to seven years will determine whether our planet warms uncontrollably, or if it can remain livable for billions of the most vulnerable people on earth. There are a lot of uncertainties for those most affected by this crisis: If you’re someone in Sub Saharan Africa, will you have access to productive agriculture? If you live in coastal regions in Bangladesh, will you have a community that is overwhelmed by ocean levels? Is there sufficient land and capacity to sustain yourself? In almost every nation on the planet, will the people in those nations be able to survive and thrive? Or will they be migrating, hungry, more vulnerable to violence and conflict? This is the defining fight. And now is the time to take those actions.
We need clarity around what the baseline looks like relative to our goal. Despite some tremendous progress — from the Paris Agreement, major pieces of legislation and public investment in the United States, Europe, China and other countries — we are on a path to nearly three degrees of warming. UN conferences and gatherings have to take stock and grapple with that basic underlying reality. We also have to really be clear about what it takes to prevent the world from warming uncontrollably. Data shows that we need massive investment in the climate transition in emerging and developing economies — at a time when there are debt crises, fuel crises, food crises taking place everywhere in those economies. Richer countries have not lived up to the $100 billion dollar pledge that was made in Copenhagen more than a decade ago to finance these efforts. Our basic instruments of multilateral cooperation have dramatically underperformed against the challenge we need. So we need a stocktake that is honest about the financing gap, and far more creative in terms of developing the types of institutions and solutions to solve that gap — as opposed to just talking about it.
When the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were created, there were about a few basic propositions. The first was that every human being, born anywhere on this planet, should live in an environment where their dignity is respected, and they have the opportunity to survive and thrive. It’s a very simple concept. The second was that the first proposition can only be possible if we tackle climate change fully. The third is that we're only going to achieve that if we reimagine global solidarity and cooperation across nations, peoples, and importantly, across public and private sectors.
Those principles are at risk because the people who will lose their lives, livelihoods, homes and communities due to climate change are also the poorest people on this planet. Our goals are at risk because over the last years, we've lost our capacity to show real global solidarity through multilateral action and financing to tackle these problems. They’re also at risk because every day that goes by, the crisis becomes worse and the challenge harder to overcome. I'm optimistic for a lot of reasons — but this is a year when we have to be really clear-headed about what the SDGs represent, and reaffirm a seriousness of commitment to achieve them.
Living in a world that is three degrees warmer than it is today would be devastating for many people. It means crops don't grow — and 90% of food is consumed and grown locally, within national boundaries. Waterborne and other types of diseases will overwhelm populations, especially the most vulnerable, in a world characterized by three degrees. We only just got through the COVID pandemic, and saw bodies carried away in trucks in the United States, a country that has all the infrastructure and trillions of dollars of healthcare spending per year. We can't allow that to happen again, especially in lower-income parts of the world where people don't have the resources to fight back.
Across too much of modern media, there's fragmentation and negativity. People are staying in small communities where they're fed information that reinforces their current point of view. The media industry has a responsibility to not just produce and provide content that is clear about the challenges we face and hopeful about the solutions we can embrace — it also needs to break down silos and help people from different political persuasions and communities see, hear, and engage with the same information in a way that creates a less fragmented society. Togetherness is going to be needed in order to win the fight against climate change. When I look at the media on climate, a lot of it is a dire warning about the pace at which climate change is already happening. Much of it leaves us feeling helpless — that we don’t have the power within ourselves to change something so global. We need to communicate in a way that helps people understand that the things they do and the choices they make today will determine whether our kids get to live on a habitable planet.
My optimism is rooted in science and technology, and I get hope from that science being applied to transform the way we live, towards sustainability. But the real reason I'm optimistic is that at the end of the day, I've seen people in very, very tough circumstances hold on to hope. I've been in Somalia at the heart of famine. I've been in Afghanistan at the heart of conflict-related violence. And what I've learned is that whatever your politics, whatever your ethnic background, whatever your religion, whatever your circumstances — people want to be hopeful about the future. As long as people hold on to that hope, and as long as we serve that sense of hope with honesty and durability, I will remain optimistic. Science and technology will make things possible, and people will come together and partner in unlikely ways. We know how to run major global initiatives that deliver results. It's the sense of aspiration, and the desire everyone naturally has to build a world that's better for their children than it was for them. That's what gives me hope.
Adding to the concerns outlined in the IPCC report, the World Economic Forum (WEF) reported a new warning from scientists this year, stating that a 1.5°C rise in global temperature will trigger tipping points and lead to the irreversible collapse of critical Earth systems, including the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, emphasizing the crucial role of the North and South Poles in regulating the stability of the entire climate system. For the first time, scientists have defined planetary limits that ensure a safe and just corridor for people and the planet. Responding to the scientific data, world leaders have called for an end to fossil fuel consumption and stressed the urgency of acting decisively to prevent the climate crisis from escalating.3
However, despite the urgency, the world's current climate policies are projected to result in about 2.7°C warming above pre-industrial levels — which could be lowered to about 2°C through binding long-term targets. The recent energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted governments to focus on energy security, but many are doubling down on fossil fuels rather than prioritizing renewables, efficiency, and electrification. The oil and gas industry is pushing fossil gas as a solution, but analysis by Climate Action Tracker shows that gas expansion plans could seriously compromise efforts to meet the 1.5°C limit.4
The IPCC’s 2023 Climate Change Synthesis Report underscores the urgent need for comprehensive climate action to prevent temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Swift, substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions across all sectors are necessary, with emissions needing to be cut by almost half by 2030. The IPCC recommends a “climate-resilient development” approach, which involves integrating adaptation measures with actions to reduce or avoid emissions. Examples include clean energy access, low-carbon electrification, promoting low-carbon transport, and improving air quality. The report emphasizes the importance of government support in reducing barriers to lowering emissions by ramping up public funding and sending clear signals to investors.5 UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls for climate action on all fronts, proposing a "Climate Solidarity Pact" for the G20 group of highly developed economies. Such a pact would entail all major emitters making additional efforts to cut emissions, while wealthier countries provide financial and technical resources to support emerging economies.
Today, international climate finance remains insufficient. Wealthy nations fell almost $17 billion short of their pledge to collectively deliver $100 billion of climate finance a year by 2020, according to data by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). High-income countries are now only expected to meet it in 2023, and have been further criticized for providing the bulk of funds in the form of loans rather than grants.6 Meanwhile, fossil fuel companies have recorded a combined $200 billion in record profits in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.7
When implicit subsidies are included — namely, the health costs and damage born by citizens for the associated environmental pollution, including the damage done by climate change — the estimated financial support for the fossil industry stands at $5 trillion, of which $1 trillion is funded by the G20.8 These perks didn't arise by accident — the industry used its immense wealth and influence to obtain them (see Climate Misinformation)9,10 In the 2015-2016 election cycle alone, fossil fuel companies spent $354 million in campaign contributions and lobbying.11 Fossil fuel interests have also done everything possible to block subsidies and incentives for their competition — renewable energy — and they've had a lot of success doing so.12 That has led to a perverse incentive structure in the energy marketplace through which we are artificially boosting the very energy sources that are hurting the planet, while devaluing those that can save it.
In light of these challenges, the term 'Net Zero' has gained popularity in climate conversations, with most of the global economy adopting Net Zero targets in recent years. According to the IPCC, Net Zero emissions are achieved when anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere are balanced by anthropogenic removals over a specified period.13 In the US, industry is responsible for 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions. However, the term ‘Net Zero’ is facing criticism: Current Net Zero plans and carbon offsetting schemes often rely on unproven technologies such as direct air capture of CO2, and projects which may infringe on vulnerable communities’ rights, such as tree planting.14
National Net Zero policies are failing to curb emissions enough, putting us on a trajectory of a 14% emissions increase by 2030. To meet the Paris target of keeping warming below 1.5°C, a 45% decrease in emissions is required. Climate experts are now urging companies to focus on ‘real zero’ targets, where emissions are stopped before they enter the atmosphere. While Net Zero can be abused to justify business as usual, Real Zero would mean a near-total transformation of how we produce, consume, and live — moving away from wastefulness and towards efficiency.15
As we enter the next phase of this decisive decade, Christiana Figueres, architect of the Paris Agreement and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), stresses the importance of working together as we embark on the upcoming phase of the critical decade — transforming climate anxiety, stress, and fear for the future into empowerment.16 Despite the growing urgency of the climate crisis, there have been recent milestones that offer hope for a better future. At the biodiversity COP15, the global community recognized humanity's interdependence with nature and committed to halting and reversing nature loss by protecting 30% of all land and ocean areas by 2030. Countries also pledged to provide $25 billion annually from 2025, rising to $30 billion by the end of the decade, for a new fund to help poorer nations protect biodiversity.
Additionally, COP27 established a new "loss and damage" fund, helping those most affected by climate disasters rebuild communities and increase resilience in a climate-warming world. The groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act, supported by 73% of US voters, demonstrates the potential for policies that take decisive economic action and empower everyone to lead better lives. As we approach climate tipping points, Figueres calls for collective courage to close the gap between science and policy, acknowledging recent milestones and incorporating them into a new shared narrative of empowerment and possibility.15
COP27 highlighted the critical role that culture and creative sectors play in shaping future visions, as well as the importance of involving young people and local individuals as experts.16 Throughout this body of work, we will emphasize the role of the cultural and creative industries in framing climate communication and shaping visions for sustainable futures, as well as the crucial importance of empowering youth and local communities, whose voices and activism are paramount in driving climate action.
It’s All Connected: People and the Planet
The climate crisis is often described as the biggest threat facing humanity — but rather than an isolated issue, climate change amplifies and is exacerbated by other global threats. Recent years have seen a return of ‘older’ risks such as inflation, a cost-of-living crisis and the threat of nuclear warfare following COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war. These threats are amplified and potentially multiplied by the emerging risks of climate change impacts, biodiversity loss, and a shrinking window for climate policies that put us on track for the 1.5°C Paris target.
Keep reading- Hausfather Z. State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022. Carbon Brief. Published January 18, 2023. Accessed August 25, 2023. https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-how-the-world-warmed-in-2022/
- IPCC. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Masson-Delmotte V, Zhai P, Pirani A, et al., eds. 2021;Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA,(2391). doi:10.1017/9781009157896
- World Economic Forum. The Global Risks Report 2023 - 18th Edition. Insight Report.; 2023. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2023/
- Climate Action Tracker. 2100 Warming Projections: Emissions and expected warming based on pledges and current policies. Published 2022. https://climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures/
- Webster R. The IPCC’s climate scientists have done their job – now we must do ours. Clim Outreach. Published online 2023. https://climateoutreach.org/ipcc-climate-job/
- Gerretsen I. Rich countries fall $17bn short of 2020 climate finance goal. Climate Home News. Published July 29, 2022. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2022/07/29/rich-countries-fall-17bn-short-of-2020-climate-goal/
- Halm I van. Big Oil profits soared to nearly $200bn in 2022. Energy Monitor. Published February 8, 2023. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.energymonitor.ai/finance/big-oil-profits-soared-to-nearly-200bn-in-2022/
- Laan T, Geddes A, Jones N, et al. Fanning the Flames: G20 provides record financial support for fossil fuels. International Institute for Sustainable Development. Published August 22, 2023. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/fanning-flames-g20-support-of-fossil-fuels
- OpenSecrets. Oil & Gas: Top Recipients. OpenSecrets - Following the Money in Politics. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.opensecrets.org/industries./recips.php?ind=E01++
- Kirk K. Fossil fuel political giving outdistances renewables 13 to one » Yale Climate Connections. Yale Climate Connections. Published January 6, 2020. Accessed August 27, 2023. http://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/01/fossil-fuel-political-giving-outdistances-renewables-13-to-one/
- Oil Change International. Dirty Energy Dominance: dependant on Denial - How the U.S. Fossil Fuel Industry depends on subsidies and climate denial. Published online 2017. https://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2017/10/OCI_US-Fossil-Fuel-Subs-2015-16_Final_Oct2017.pdf
- Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology, Alvarez G. Fossil-Fuel Funded Opposition Is Blocking America’s Clean Energy Transition. Permitting Reform Can Help. Forbes. Published November 30, 2022. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2022/11/30/fossil-fuel-funded-opposition-is-blocking-americas-clean-energy-transition-permitting-reform-can-help/
- IPCC. Annex I: Glossary. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the Impacts of Global Warming of 1.5°C above Pre-Industrial Levels and Related Global Greenhouse Gas Emission Pathways, in the Context of Strengthening the Global Response to the Threat of Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Efforts to Eradicate Poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (Eds.)]. Matthews, J.B.R. Cambridge University Press; 2018:541-562. doi:10.1017/9781009157940
- Skelton A, Larkin A, Ringsmuth A, et al. 10 myths about net zero targets and carbon offsetting, busted. Climate Home News. Published December 11, 2020. Accessed May Mowery L. Net Zero vs Real Zero Emissions and What It Means for Your Business’ Goals. Green Business Bureau. Published August 4, 2022. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://greenbusinessbureau.com/topics/carbon-accounting/net-zero-vs-real-zero-emissions-and-what-it-means-for-your-business-goals/25, 2023. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/12/11/10-myths-net-zero-targets-carbon-offsetting-busted
- Mowery L. Net Zero vs Real Zero Emissions and What It Means for Your Business’ Goals. Green Business Bureau. Published August 4, 2022. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://greenbusinessbureau.com/topics/carbon-accounting/net-zero-vs-real-zero-emissions-and-what-it-means-for-your-business-goals/
- Figueres C. Flipping the Environmental Narrative. Project Syndicate. Published March 13, 2023. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.project-syndicate.org/magazine/climate-biodiversity-narrative-can-drive-stronger-policies-by-christiana-figueres-2023-03
Figure 2: The extent to which current and future generations will experience a hotter and different world depends on choices made now and in the near-term. Source: IPCC.
Figure 3: Countries where people feel the most informed about climate change. Source: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Figure 4: People's beliefs regarding climate change, the need to act, and speed of climate action. Source: Trust Barometer 2022.
Source: Bloomberg Media
The world has warmed by about 1.3 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution,1 with the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment report painting an urgent picture which was widely reported as “code red for humanity”: It is now unequivocal that human influence has caused widespread and rapid changes to the planet, affecting weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. Unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur soon, global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century.
These alarming changes include extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and intense tropical cyclones, as well as warming oceans that lead to marine heatwaves and changes in sea levels, threatening coastal communities. Arctic sea ice, snow cover, and permafrost are also decreasing, worsening climate change effects. Some past and future greenhouse gas emissions are irreversible, others will last for centuries.2
Rajiv Shah
Coming together to tackle climate change
With the climate crisis, we face the largest existential crisis to human well-being — but in the last few years alone, we have shown that we can tackle this crisis at scale in certain parts of the world. Now is our opportunity to make a commitment to solve the climate crisis — not just in wealthy nations, but all over the planet — and ensure that vulnerable populations are supported and able to avoid a catastrophic outcome. I’m hopeful that we can make it a reality, but the time to act is now.
It's crucial to act on climate change now, because the things we do in the next three to seven years will determine whether our planet warms uncontrollably, or if it can remain livable for billions of the most vulnerable people on earth. There are a lot of uncertainties for those most affected by this crisis: If you’re someone in Sub Saharan Africa, will you have access to productive agriculture? If you live in coastal regions in Bangladesh, will you have a community that is overwhelmed by ocean levels? Is there sufficient land and capacity to sustain yourself? In almost every nation on the planet, will the people in those nations be able to survive and thrive? Or will they be migrating, hungry, more vulnerable to violence and conflict? This is the defining fight. And now is the time to take those actions.
We need clarity around what the baseline looks like relative to our goal. Despite some tremendous progress — from the Paris Agreement, major pieces of legislation and public investment in the United States, Europe, China and other countries — we are on a path to nearly three degrees of warming. UN conferences and gatherings have to take stock and grapple with that basic underlying reality. We also have to really be clear about what it takes to prevent the world from warming uncontrollably. Data shows that we need massive investment in the climate transition in emerging and developing economies — at a time when there are debt crises, fuel crises, food crises taking place everywhere in those economies. Richer countries have not lived up to the $100 billion dollar pledge that was made in Copenhagen more than a decade ago to finance these efforts. Our basic instruments of multilateral cooperation have dramatically underperformed against the challenge we need. So we need a stocktake that is honest about the financing gap, and far more creative in terms of developing the types of institutions and solutions to solve that gap — as opposed to just talking about it.
When the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were created, there were about a few basic propositions. The first was that every human being, born anywhere on this planet, should live in an environment where their dignity is respected, and they have the opportunity to survive and thrive. It’s a very simple concept. The second was that the first proposition can only be possible if we tackle climate change fully. The third is that we're only going to achieve that if we reimagine global solidarity and cooperation across nations, peoples, and importantly, across public and private sectors.
Those principles are at risk because the people who will lose their lives, livelihoods, homes and communities due to climate change are also the poorest people on this planet. Our goals are at risk because over the last years, we've lost our capacity to show real global solidarity through multilateral action and financing to tackle these problems. They’re also at risk because every day that goes by, the crisis becomes worse and the challenge harder to overcome. I'm optimistic for a lot of reasons — but this is a year when we have to be really clear-headed about what the SDGs represent, and reaffirm a seriousness of commitment to achieve them.
Living in a world that is three degrees warmer than it is today would be devastating for many people. It means crops don't grow — and 90% of food is consumed and grown locally, within national boundaries. Waterborne and other types of diseases will overwhelm populations, especially the most vulnerable, in a world characterized by three degrees. We only just got through the COVID pandemic, and saw bodies carried away in trucks in the United States, a country that has all the infrastructure and trillions of dollars of healthcare spending per year. We can't allow that to happen again, especially in lower-income parts of the world where people don't have the resources to fight back.
Across too much of modern media, there's fragmentation and negativity. People are staying in small communities where they're fed information that reinforces their current point of view. The media industry has a responsibility to not just produce and provide content that is clear about the challenges we face and hopeful about the solutions we can embrace — it also needs to break down silos and help people from different political persuasions and communities see, hear, and engage with the same information in a way that creates a less fragmented society. Togetherness is going to be needed in order to win the fight against climate change. When I look at the media on climate, a lot of it is a dire warning about the pace at which climate change is already happening. Much of it leaves us feeling helpless — that we don’t have the power within ourselves to change something so global. We need to communicate in a way that helps people understand that the things they do and the choices they make today will determine whether our kids get to live on a habitable planet.
My optimism is rooted in science and technology, and I get hope from that science being applied to transform the way we live, towards sustainability. But the real reason I'm optimistic is that at the end of the day, I've seen people in very, very tough circumstances hold on to hope. I've been in Somalia at the heart of famine. I've been in Afghanistan at the heart of conflict-related violence. And what I've learned is that whatever your politics, whatever your ethnic background, whatever your religion, whatever your circumstances — people want to be hopeful about the future. As long as people hold on to that hope, and as long as we serve that sense of hope with honesty and durability, I will remain optimistic. Science and technology will make things possible, and people will come together and partner in unlikely ways. We know how to run major global initiatives that deliver results. It's the sense of aspiration, and the desire everyone naturally has to build a world that's better for their children than it was for them. That's what gives me hope.
Adding to the concerns outlined in the IPCC report, the World Economic Forum (WEF) reported a new warning from scientists this year, stating that a 1.5°C rise in global temperature will trigger tipping points and lead to the irreversible collapse of critical Earth systems, including the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, emphasizing the crucial role of the North and South Poles in regulating the stability of the entire climate system. For the first time, scientists have defined planetary limits that ensure a safe and just corridor for people and the planet. Responding to the scientific data, world leaders have called for an end to fossil fuel consumption and stressed the urgency of acting decisively to prevent the climate crisis from escalating.3
However, despite the urgency, the world's current climate policies are projected to result in about 2.7°C warming above pre-industrial levels — which could be lowered to about 2°C through binding long-term targets. The recent energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted governments to focus on energy security, but many are doubling down on fossil fuels rather than prioritizing renewables, efficiency, and electrification. The oil and gas industry is pushing fossil gas as a solution, but analysis by Climate Action Tracker shows that gas expansion plans could seriously compromise efforts to meet the 1.5°C limit.4
The IPCC’s 2023 Climate Change Synthesis Report underscores the urgent need for comprehensive climate action to prevent temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Swift, substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions across all sectors are necessary, with emissions needing to be cut by almost half by 2030. The IPCC recommends a “climate-resilient development” approach, which involves integrating adaptation measures with actions to reduce or avoid emissions. Examples include clean energy access, low-carbon electrification, promoting low-carbon transport, and improving air quality. The report emphasizes the importance of government support in reducing barriers to lowering emissions by ramping up public funding and sending clear signals to investors.5 UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls for climate action on all fronts, proposing a "Climate Solidarity Pact" for the G20 group of highly developed economies. Such a pact would entail all major emitters making additional efforts to cut emissions, while wealthier countries provide financial and technical resources to support emerging economies.
Today, international climate finance remains insufficient. Wealthy nations fell almost $17 billion short of their pledge to collectively deliver $100 billion of climate finance a year by 2020, according to data by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). High-income countries are now only expected to meet it in 2023, and have been further criticized for providing the bulk of funds in the form of loans rather than grants.6 Meanwhile, fossil fuel companies have recorded a combined $200 billion in record profits in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.7
When implicit subsidies are included — namely, the health costs and damage born by citizens for the associated environmental pollution, including the damage done by climate change — the estimated financial support for the fossil industry stands at $5 trillion, of which $1 trillion is funded by the G20.8 These perks didn't arise by accident — the industry used its immense wealth and influence to obtain them (see Climate Misinformation)9,10 In the 2015-2016 election cycle alone, fossil fuel companies spent $354 million in campaign contributions and lobbying.11 Fossil fuel interests have also done everything possible to block subsidies and incentives for their competition — renewable energy — and they've had a lot of success doing so.12 That has led to a perverse incentive structure in the energy marketplace through which we are artificially boosting the very energy sources that are hurting the planet, while devaluing those that can save it.
In light of these challenges, the term 'Net Zero' has gained popularity in climate conversations, with most of the global economy adopting Net Zero targets in recent years. According to the IPCC, Net Zero emissions are achieved when anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere are balanced by anthropogenic removals over a specified period.13 In the US, industry is responsible for 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions. However, the term ‘Net Zero’ is facing criticism: Current Net Zero plans and carbon offsetting schemes often rely on unproven technologies such as direct air capture of CO2, and projects which may infringe on vulnerable communities’ rights, such as tree planting.14
National Net Zero policies are failing to curb emissions enough, putting us on a trajectory of a 14% emissions increase by 2030. To meet the Paris target of keeping warming below 1.5°C, a 45% decrease in emissions is required. Climate experts are now urging companies to focus on ‘real zero’ targets, where emissions are stopped before they enter the atmosphere. While Net Zero can be abused to justify business as usual, Real Zero would mean a near-total transformation of how we produce, consume, and live — moving away from wastefulness and towards efficiency.15
As we enter the next phase of this decisive decade, Christiana Figueres, architect of the Paris Agreement and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), stresses the importance of working together as we embark on the upcoming phase of the critical decade — transforming climate anxiety, stress, and fear for the future into empowerment.16 Despite the growing urgency of the climate crisis, there have been recent milestones that offer hope for a better future. At the biodiversity COP15, the global community recognized humanity's interdependence with nature and committed to halting and reversing nature loss by protecting 30% of all land and ocean areas by 2030. Countries also pledged to provide $25 billion annually from 2025, rising to $30 billion by the end of the decade, for a new fund to help poorer nations protect biodiversity.
Additionally, COP27 established a new "loss and damage" fund, helping those most affected by climate disasters rebuild communities and increase resilience in a climate-warming world. The groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act, supported by 73% of US voters, demonstrates the potential for policies that take decisive economic action and empower everyone to lead better lives. As we approach climate tipping points, Figueres calls for collective courage to close the gap between science and policy, acknowledging recent milestones and incorporating them into a new shared narrative of empowerment and possibility.15
COP27 highlighted the critical role that culture and creative sectors play in shaping future visions, as well as the importance of involving young people and local individuals as experts.16 Throughout this body of work, we will emphasize the role of the cultural and creative industries in framing climate communication and shaping visions for sustainable futures, as well as the crucial importance of empowering youth and local communities, whose voices and activism are paramount in driving climate action.
Figure 2: The extent to which current and future generations will experience a hotter and different world depends on choices made now and in the near-term. Source: IPCC.
Figure 3: Countries where people feel the most informed about climate change. Source: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Figure 4: People's beliefs regarding climate change, the need to act, and speed of climate action. Source: Trust Barometer 2022.
Source: Bloomberg Media
It’s All Connected: People and the Planet
The climate crisis is often described as the biggest threat facing humanity — but rather than an isolated issue, climate change amplifies and is exacerbated by other global threats. Recent years have seen a return of ‘older’ risks such as inflation, a cost-of-living crisis and the threat of nuclear warfare following COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war. These threats are amplified and potentially multiplied by the emerging risks of climate change impacts, biodiversity loss, and a shrinking window for climate policies that put us on track for the 1.5°C Paris target.
Keep reading- Hausfather Z. State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022. Carbon Brief. Published January 18, 2023. Accessed August 25, 2023. https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-how-the-world-warmed-in-2022/
- IPCC. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Masson-Delmotte V, Zhai P, Pirani A, et al., eds. 2021;Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA,(2391). doi:10.1017/9781009157896
- World Economic Forum. The Global Risks Report 2023 - 18th Edition. Insight Report.; 2023. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2023/
- Climate Action Tracker. 2100 Warming Projections: Emissions and expected warming based on pledges and current policies. Published 2022. https://climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures/
- Webster R. The IPCC’s climate scientists have done their job – now we must do ours. Clim Outreach. Published online 2023. https://climateoutreach.org/ipcc-climate-job/
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