SDSN delivers message to Leaders on the threat of Climate Change



 A Message on Climate Change to World Leaders
Human-induced climate change is an issue beyond politics. It transcends parties, nations, and even generations. For the first time in human history, the very health of the planet, and therefore the bases for future economic development, the end of poverty, and human wellbeing, are in the balance. If we were facing an imminent threat from beyond Earth, there is no doubt that humanity would immediately unite in common cause. The fact that the threat comes from within – indeed from ourselves – and that it develops over an extended period of time does not alter the urgency of cooperation and decisive action.

The world has agreed to limit the mean temperature increase to less than 2-degrees Centigrade (2°C). Even a 2°C increase will carry us to dangerous and unprecedented conditions not seen on Earth during the entire period of human civilization. Various physical feedbacks – in the Arctic, the oceans, the rainforests, and the tundra – could multiply a 2°C temperature increase into vastly higher temperatures and climate
disruption. For this reason many scientists and some countries advocate for 1.5°C or even stricter targets.

To give up on the 2°C limit, on the other hand, would be reckless and foolish. We would abandon our remaining chance to stay within a safe operating space for humanity and that of millions of other species. By holding the 2°C limit, we would retain the global option to adopt an even more stringent emission reduction limit in line with evolving scientific knowledge and technological capacities.

The 2°C limit, or an even stronger target, can be met through long-term national strategies and concerted global cooperation. All countries must commit to a deep decarbonization of their energy systems, shifting from high-carbon energy (coal, oil, and natural gas) to low-carbon energy of various kinds (e.g. wind, solar, nuclear, carbon capture and sequestration, known as CCS). Low-carbon electricity plus massive gains in energy efficiency and the electrification of vehicles, heating and cooling systems of commercial as well as residential buildings can lead to a dramatic
reduction of carbon-dioxide emissions alongside a growing economy. Changes in lifestyle patterns and urban planning can make another important contribution. The many co-benefits of decarbonization with the deployment of sustainable energy, information and communication technologies will include cleaner air and water, enhanced biodiversity, and security of domestic renewable energy resources. Targeted efforts are also required to decarbonize key industries. Finally, countries need to curb greenhouse gas emissions resulting from agriculture, livestock, and land-use change, such as deforestation. They must also manage and restore ecosystems to ensure they can serve as a significant net sink for greenhouse gas emissions.

The technological transition during the first half of the 21st century is within reach, especially in light of massive advances in knowhow in recent years. In many parts of the world and in some contexts, solar and wind power are already at “grid parity.” Large-scale deployment of electric vehicles, carbon-capture and sequestration, next- generation nuclear power plants for those countries deploying nuclear power, and
other low-carbon energy technologies are all within reach. They can be pushed to commercial readiness and large-scale deployment through concerted public and private programs of research, development, demonstration, and diffusion (RDD&D) on a global scale.

We have nearly exhausted the Earth’s carbon budget, which measures the cumulative emissions of CO2 that will likely keep the planet within the 2°C limit. Only through a drastic reduction of carbon emissions between now and 2050, en route to a zero-net emission economy in the second half of the century, can we meet the challenge of remaining below 2°C. Yet, deep decarbonization can be accomplished. As President John F. Kennedy said a half-century ago, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but
because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills ...”

In our time, humanity again must choose, this time to save our planet from shortsightedness, greed, and apathy to avoid catastrophic climate change. This time too, we must organize and measure the best of our energies and skills to stay within 2°C. We call upon you, world leaders, to recognize the gravity of the situation, and to call upon all of us to rise to the occasion. We owe nothing less to ourselves, to future generations, and to Earth itself.

Founding Signatories:
(* denotes members of the SDSN Leadership Council)
Irene Agyepong, Regional Director, Health for Greater Accra*
HSH Prince Albert II, Head of State, Monaco*
Muskdad A. Al-Khateeb, Head, Department of Sustainable Development,
Environment Research Center, University of Technology, Baghdad François Anctil,


Directeur, Institut Hydro-Quebec en Environnement,
Développement et Société



Muhammad Hasan Ali Baig, Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Laboratory (HRS),
Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI)

Belay Begashaw, Director, Columbia Global Center, Nairobi*
Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)* Joseph
Bell, Hogan Lovells, Washington*

David Berry, Founder, Joule Unlimited*
Gianluca Breghi, Managing Director, Fondazione Achille Sclavo Carlo Carraro,
Rector, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Joshua Castellino, Dean, Law School, University of Middlesex* Maurizio Cellura, Full
Professor, Dipartimento di Energi, Ingegneria
dell’Informazione e Modelli Matematici (DEIM), University of Palermo Madhav
Chavan, Co-founder and CE-President, Pratham, India*
Patrick Criqui, Head of EDDEN Research Group, CNRS-University of Grenoble
Sir Partha Dasgupta, Professor Emeritus, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Leclère Diffo, President, Green Horizon Cameroon


Bineta Diop, President, Femmes Africa Solidarité*


Achim Dobermann, Director, Rothamsted Research*
May East, Chief Executive, CIFAL Scotland
Kokunre Eghafona, Sustainable Development Desk Officer, University of Benin,
Benin City, Nigeria
José María Figueres, CEO, Carbon War Room*



Maria Freire, President and Executive Director of the Foundation for the National
Institutes of Health (FNIH)*
Michael Gerrard, Professor, Columbia University Law School
Jennifer Gross , Member of the Board, Gross Family Foundation
Zakri Abdul Hamid, Chair, International Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services (IPBES)*
James Hansen, Former Director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies* Tom
Heller, Executive Director, Climate Policy Initiative*
Feyera Dinsa Hundessa, Director, Academic Programs Development and
Admissions, Haramaya University
Ivano Iannelli, CEO, Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence
PavelKabat , Director, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
(IIASA)*
Joan Kaufman, Director. Columbia Global Centers East Asia
Geoffrey Kent, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Abercrombie & Kent Group of
Companies*
Niclas Kjellström-Matseke, Managing Director, Novamedia Swedish Postcode


Lottery*
Israel Klabin, Founder and Executive Director, Brazilian Foundation for Sustainable
Development*
Felipe Larraín, Director, Centro Latinoamericano de Políticas Económicas y Sociales



(CLAPES-UC)*
Richard Layard, Director. Well-Being Programme Centre for Economic Performance
London School of Economics*
Frannie Léautier, Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Mkoba Private Equity Fund*


Yuan Lee, Former President, Academia Sinica and Nobel Prize Laureate*

Klaus Leisinger, President, Stiftung Globale Werte Allianz*
Gordon Liu, Director, Peking University China Center for Health Economic Research
(CCHER)*
Jane Lubchenco, Oregon State University, Corvallis*
Soren Winther Lundby, CEO, GlobalCitizen
Arun Majumdar, Energy Initiatives Lead, Google Inc*
Michael Mann, Professor and Director of the Earth System Science Center,
Pennsylvania State University
Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General, IUCN*


Dirk Messner, Director, German Development Institute
Chiara Mio, Rector’s Delegate on Environmental Sustainability and University Social
Responsibity, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Angus D. Munro, Vice-President, Research, Development and Policy, University of
Cambodia
ShahidNaeem, Director, Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability*
Claude Nahon, Executive Vice President for Sustainable Development, EDF* Rebecca
Nelson, Professor. Cornell University*
Tolera Negassa, Teacher Development Program Coordinator, Adama Science and
Technology University
Cherie Nursalim, Executive Director, GITI Group*
Ikenna Onyido, Founder and Director, Centre for Sustainable Development, Nnamdi
Azikiwe University, Nigeria*
Mari Pangestu, Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries, Indonesia*
George Papandreou, Former Prime Minister, Greece*
Alberto Posso, Senior Lecturer Economics, RMIT
Ketut Gede Dharma Putra, Chairman, Center for Sustainable Development Udayana
University of Bali
V (Ram) Ramanathan, Professor, SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography, UCSD,
California
Rino Rappuoli, Global Head, R&D Novartis Vaccines and President, Fondazione
Achille Sclavo
Srinath Reddy, President and Executive Director, Public Health Foundation of India*
Irwin Redlener, Director, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Earth Institute,
Columbia University
Aromar Revi, Director, Indian Institute for Human Settlements*
Angelo Riccaboni, Rector, University of Siena, Italy*
Johan Rockström, Executive Director, Stockholm Resilience Center*


Cynthia Rosenzweig, Professor, Earth Institute, Columbia University*
Angelo Antonio Russo, Director, PHD Program in Economics and Management of
Natural Resources and Associate Professor of Management, LUM University Roberto
Russo, President, International Federation for Sustainable Development
and Fight to Poverty in the Mediterrranean-Black Sea, FISPMED
Jeffrey Sayer, Director, Development Practice Programme, James Cook University
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University Director of the SDSN*

Marcello Scalisi, Executive Director, UNIMED-Mediterranean Universities Union
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
(PIK)
Josette Sheeran, President, Asia Society*
Will Steffen, Adjunct Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, The
Australian University
Lord Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor, Chair of Grantham Institute, London School
of Economics
Pavan Sukhdev, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, GIST Advisory*
Jatna Supriatna, Chairman, University of Indonesia Research Center of Climate
Change
John Thwaites, Chair, Monash Sustainability Institute*
Jean-Phiippe Thomas, Executive Secretariat, ENDA Tiers Monde
Lena Trenschow-Torell, Chairman, MISTRA*
Laurence Tubiana, Professor, Sciences Po (Paris) and Columbia University, Co-Chair
of the SDSN Leadership Council*
Ted Turner, Chairman, Turner Foundation, Inc. and Turner Enterprises Inc.* Auwalu
Uba, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi
Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson Group*
Virgilio Viana, Director General, Amazonas Sustainability Foundation*
Martin Visbeck, Chair in Physical Oceanography, GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for
Ocean Research Kiel & Kiel University*
Robert Watson, former Chair of the IPCC
Daniel Wiener, Chairman, Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation
E.O. Wilson, Emeritus, Harvard University
Xue Lan, Professor and Dean, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua
University, Co-Chair of the SDSN Leadership Council*
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Professor, New York University*
Soogil Young, Professor, KDI School of Public Policy and Management* Hania Zlotnik,
Former Director, UN Population Division*