Hope is a key ingredient in climate foreign policy.
The reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change make clear what is at stake when rapid decarbonization is further delayed. Already, climate impacts – like wildfires, storms, heatwaves, or droughts – have started to emerge across all continents that have resulted in the loss of lives, destruction of ancestral sites, and economic damages. Such visible changes, which have caused immense grief for the communities struck by them, could have been prevented through more decisive emissions mitigation in past decades.
Amid multiple crises and slow progress on climate protection, hope is elusive. Yet, in the face of great loss, defiant hope remains necessary for building the confidence and courage to transform economies. Engagement, community, and decisive action can all ignite the hope that humanity will save all it still can.