Limiting human-According to IPCC scientists, there is an “unequivocal that human influence has warmed that atmosphere”. Global surface temperatures are the highest they have been in 2000 years and without action to reduce emissions, global temperatures are expected to increase beyond 1.5°C threshold. And despite international agreements, there is a gap between ambition and implementation.

This implementation gap suggests that efforts to limit surface warming to 1.5°C or even 2°C are becoming less insured. Consequently, policies and action are needed that address this gap between international agreements and national efforts. This creates a need for long-term climate mitigation and adaptation measures to prepare for falling short on overall climate mitigation and the worsening effects of climate change and currently, accelerated climate mitigation efforts will be required after 2030.

There is an urgent need to limit human-induced climate change and shift development pathways towards whole socio-ecological sustainability. This will require global societies to be ready to rapidly shift to more sustainable and low-carbon development. Consequently, climate action and low-carbon development needs to be socially accepted to be sustainable and resilient to future climate and political scenarios. This will be challenging and will require disrupting historical patterns of behavior, but it is essential if we want to limit the worst effects of climate change.

Climate action, which occurs in mitigation, adaptation, and climate finance for loss and damage, however, relies upon collective effort in the social, economic, and political action to maintain and increase current efforts for decarbonization. As well, decarbonizing a locality successfully requires context-specific mitigation and adaptation efforts to be embraced and supported from multiple stakeholders.