NRDC President: “We Must Sprint to Avoid Climate Catastrophe,” UN Panel Shows

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release its Working Group III report on climate change mitigation today, finding that despite the clean energy revolution underway globally, nations are falling far short of reducing climate pollution quickly enough to avoid severe damage, cost and upheaval. 

Manish Bapna, president and CEO of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) made the following statement: 

“This report makes it clear we must go from a trot to a sprint to avoid climate catastrophe. Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine makes breaking our dependence on fossil fuels a strategic imperative. It’s equally an environmental necessity. 

“The good news is that we have the climate solutions needed, and they work. While the fossil industry tries to exploit the crisis in Ukraine and lock us in to decades more dependency, this report affirms tremendous gains, here at home and abroad, in clean energy—in wind and solar power and battery storage—and foresees little future for fossil fuels. But we simply have to move much faster.

“The IPCC reveals that all the pledges countries have made to address the climate crisis—and steps taken to cut emissions and expand clean energy—get us less than halfway to where we need to be in 2050 to leave our children a livable planet.

“Right now, not tomorrow, the world must dramatically step up the speed and scale of climate action. In the United States, that starts with passing the critical climate and clean energy investments pending before the Senate. For our economic and national security, and for the future of all life on Earth, lawmakers must act without delay.” 

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.