Plan B for adaptation and rapid GHG reduction in the built environment
Key industry and government leaders have hesitated too long to implement adequate long-term mitigation measures. Measures that have been implemented tend to be of the no-regrets and painless variety, so these will not be sufficient to make the major and rapid reductions that are needed.
In addition, we must do more to adapt to the major climate change impacts that now appear inevitable. We believe that a Plan B for more rapid action on both the adaptation and mitigation is needed.
This position paper argues that progress in developing policies and programs to reduce GHG emissions and to develop adaptation measures are far too slow to ensure that we stay below a 2ºC rise in global temperature.
This paper proposes 16 high-level measures that will help to speed up the process. Their implementation would meet resistance today, but when climate change effects become more apparent, they will provide a useful roadmap for most developed countries. The paper has undergone extensive review and editing over a 14-month period and work is now being undertaken to add inputs for specific regions.
Impact of the paper has been modest to date, although Christiana Figueres called our draft of June 2017 "excellent". More help is needed by established organizations to obtain specific regional inputs in order to bring it to the next level.
