The scientific evidence is now overwhelming: climate change presents very serious global risks, and it demands an urgent global response.
Nicholas SternRead
If you look at all the serious scientists in the world, there is no big disagreement on the basics of this...it would be absolute lunacy to act as if climate change is not occurring.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Climate change is a universally accepted reality among scientists, and ignoring it is irrational.
Nicholas Stern emphasizes the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, arguing that it is not only a reality but one that must be acknowledged and addressed. He portrays the idea of disregarding climate change as not just misguided, but as a form of madness, urging society to take the environmental crisis seriously.
Themes
Climate ChangeScienceConsensusEnvironmentSustainability
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech at an environmental summit to emphasize the necessity of climate action.
More from Nicholas Stern
All quotes →There is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we take strong action now.
Nicholas SternRead
The basic scientific conclusions on climate change are very robust and for good reason. The greenhouse effect is simple science: greenhouse gases trap heat, and humans are emitting ever more greenhouse gases.
Nicholas SternRead
Those who say that climate change doesn't exist are being understood as the flat-earthers that they are, as the people who deny the link between smoking and cancer, as the people who denied the link between HIV and AIDS.
Nicholas SternRead
If you look at all the serious scientists in the world, there is no big disagreement on the basics of this... it would be absolute lunacy to act as if climate change is not occurring.
Nicholas SternRead
This [climate change] is potentially so dangerous that we have to act strongly. Do we want to play Russian roulette with two bullets or one?
Nicholas SternRead
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