WWF-Canada Statement on IPCC Working Group 3 Report

“Climate change is affecting all natural systems profoundly, impacting the ecosystems on which we and our economy depend, creating risk and uncertainty for people around the world and putting sensitive species at risk. Acknowledging these risks and making decisions based on best case scenarios is not enough. With so few countries meeting their carbon emissions reduction targets and limited growth in the clean technologies critical to creating those reductions, greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to increase. We need to take actions today, both to stop escalating greenhouse gas emissions and prepare us for the ongoing, harmful impacts of a severely disrupted global climate.

As the Working Group 3 Report from the International Panel on Climate Change shows, the environmental, social and economic costs of inaction today are far greater than the costs of action – and that trend will only increase in the future. The longer we wait to take action, the more damage to our natural systems we have to repair, the greater the economic and social disruptions we’ll face.

Governments, businesses and individuals must look for solutions that address the damage that’s already underway and take immediate steps to reduce the rate and scale of greenhouse gas emissions. Solutions like renewable, non-polluting forms of energy production and efficiency measures are among the most effective strategies.

We have a choice to make today that will shape the future of our societies and our planet, but there is only one truly viable approach: reduce greenhouse gas emissions and take actions to build resilience in natural systems already under threat.”

– David Miller, President and CEO, WWF-Canada