Eleventh International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses

Abstract

With the climate change crises underway, extreme weather events, raising sea levels, and the impact on agricultural production, it is the most vulnerable members of society who will ultimately bear the brunt. Global warming’s ravaging effects are already the cause of untold suffering to masses of people throughout the globe. The optimism of the Paris Agreement has been recently replaced by the consensus that a much more rapid shift than previously understood is imminent. The world is way off target and the challenge much greater than previously understood, with the potential for catastrophic human consequences if the world’s emissions don’t decisively decline by 2020. But it is not just targets that must be reached if genuine international cooperation is to succeed. Less tangible yet no less important will be an understanding of the need for a much deeper empathetic openness to the suffering of others, one whose focus is the common interest of humanity. This empathetic openness is the most vital element for successfully halting global warming and it is the inspiration and involvement of grass roots individuals, especially youth and women, who must assume the vanguard.