The burning question
Janet Toye asks: How can people and planet survive?
…avoiding unacceptable risks of catastrophic climate change means burning less than half of the oil, coal and gas in currently commercial reserves – and a much smaller fraction of all the fossil fuels under the ground. This warning is from the first paragraph of The Burning Question: We can’t burn half the world’s oil, coal and gas, so how do we quit? by Mike Berners-Lee and Duncan Clark. It highlights a complex and compelling argument for what must happen if catastrophic climate change is to be avoided. In one respect the argument is discouraging. The efforts that responsible individuals and organisations are making worldwide to cut emissions are not, at present, having the desired effect: emissions continue to rise.
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