Climate change is an existential threat which to varying extents we have become strangely accustomed to living with. 2022 was our hottest summer on record, with an unprecedented number of heat-related deaths, wildfires and infrastructure disruptions. 2023 looks set to be still worse. But our response is not yet commensurate to the scale of the challenge.
Global emissions need to be reduced by 43% by 2030 and the IPCC’s final synthesis report in March highlighted just how far off track the world is. Steeper emissions cuts will be required across all sectors to avert a future dominated by catastrophic heatwaves, droughts, floods and tropical cyclones. The IPCC has called for the “mainstreaming of climate action across society.”
What is to be done? Incremental changes won’t deliver emissions reductions at the scale and pace required. We need to rethink our whole approach.
This paper by Claire Haigh outlines how findings from The Tabula Project might help inform our approach to tackling the climate crisis. The inquiry will investigate where decision making has become flawed and how our thinking needs to change. The aim is to encourage more open and self-reflective approach, which starts with an honest appraisal of how we look at the problem.
