Why COP26 Will Fail - The world is missing target after target
This should not be surprising: while a growing number of countries have set net-zero targets, for example, very few have credible plans to meet them.
And even if we did meet existing targets, that would not be enough to achieve the 2015 Paris climate agreement’s main goal: limiting global warming to 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels.
The result is what social scientists call a collective action problem. Leaders and citizens alike conclude that the most rational short-term strategy is to pay lip service to the cause and hope others will solve the crisis.
Meanwhile, the planet burns.
Mark Leonard Project Syndicate 2 November 2021
Mark Leonard is Co-Founder and Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations and the author of The Age of Unpeace (Bantam Press, 2021).
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