Washington Post: The world has barely a decade to avoid disaster. We need to combat climate change — now.
Editorial Board

“…The new [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)] report advises global leaders that the oft-cited goal of keeping warming below two degrees Celsius is riskier than many imagine. A 1.5-degree goal would be far less dangerous, but the world has only about a decade to make the ‘rapid and far-reaching’ changes required to meet that goal. … Radically changing the trajectory would require a combination of strategies. … The transition would require investment of about 2.5 percent of world GDP through 2035. This would be difficult but not impossible, if we tried. Historians will look in absolute astonishment at an American administration that not only failed to try but actually pushed in the wrong direction” (10/8).

Deutsche Welle: Opinion: 1.5 degrees — do we want climate catastrophe or not?
Sonya Diehn, environment team leader at Deutsche Welle

“…[T]he question is not can we keep global warming under 1.5 degrees. The real question is, do we want to. The fact is, it won’t be easy. Policy has not moved in step with science. Governments have demonstrated a pathetic lack of political will around climate action. … Some say it will require nothing less than a mass popular movement — to elect politicians who prioritize climate change, to hold elected officials accountable, to block the power of the fossil fuel lobby, to pressure companies to divest. Of course, many of us will have to make trade-offs as well. Fewer vacations involving flights; a smaller car; eating meat less often. … If you care at all about the future, you should be ready to make some sacrifices now and take action to hold politicians accountable…” (10/8).

The Guardian: How climate change could be a spark to create a better world
Zoe Williams, columnist at The Guardian

“…[E]nvironmentalism, while it distills everything woeful about the human condition — its short-termism, self-interest, the multiple impediments to cooperation and creativity — also contains the seed of transcendent hope. Both in what it has already achieved — the discoveries it has spurred, the alliances it has fostered — and what it can achieve in the future, including, but not limited to, saving the planet. … The battle against climate change can do more than render other political divisions trivial: its solutions have long-term ramifications for all the other crises our vexed democracies are throwing up, from the cost-of-living crisis to inequality, from insecurity to conflict. All those ramifications are good: so yes, we should hurry, before it is too late. But more importantly, we should hurry, because what comes next will be better” (10/8).