In the run-up to the climate summit in Copenhagen, the new Worldwatch Report "State of the World 2009" gives an overview of the political challenges in dealing with climate change. The technologies and human capacities are available, it says. What is lacking is the political will, which is a "renewable resource". By the end of the century, global average temperatures may be up to six degrees higher than at the beginning of industrialisation. The report proposes a broad "joint venture" for climate and energy security between industrialised countries and emerging economies. Another important focus is on adaptation to climate change and the strengthening of community resilience. As far as the world's poorest people are concerned, adaptation cannot just be about maintaining the status quo. There is a need for sustainable improvements in living standards and it must be ensured that the situation of the poor is not further impaired by climate change.
State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World. Worldwatch Institute, 2009. 262 pages. ISBN 978-0-393-33418-0.
-ck-
(177 words, 15 lines, September 2009)