Why setting a climate deadline is dangerous (original) (raw)
- Comment
- Published: 22 July 2019
Nature Climate Change volume 9, pages 570–572 (2019) Cite this article
- 9615 Accesses
- 93 Citations
- 548 Altmetric
- Metrics details
Subjects
The publication of the IPCC Special Report on global warming of 1.5 oC paved the way for the rise of the political rhetoric of setting a fixed deadline for decisive actions on climate change. However, the dangers of such deadline rhetoric suggest the need for the IPCC to take responsibility for its report and openly challenge the credibility of such a deadline.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
Warming of +1.5 °C is too high for polar ice sheets
- Chris R. Stokes
- , Jonathan L. Bamber
- … Robert M. DeConto
Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 20 May 2025
Public perceptions on solar geoengineering from focus groups in 22 countries
- Sean Low
- , Livia Fritz
- … Benjamin K. Sovacool
Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 27 June 2024
Landing a global report on national territories: the reception of AR6 in France and Switzerland
- Adèle Gaveau
npj Climate Action Open Access 08 May 2024
- Adèle Gaveau
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Additional access options:
References
- IPCC. Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 °C (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) (IPCC, 2018).
- Watts, J. We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report (2018).
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 1992).
- Leemans, R. & Vellinga, P. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 26–27, 134–142 (2017).
Article Google Scholar - Morseletto, P., Biermann, F. & Pattberg, P. Int. Environ. Agreements Polit. Law Econ. 17, 655–676 (2017).
Article Google Scholar - Knutti, R., Rogelj, J., Sedlácek, J. & Fischer, E. Nat. Geosci. 9, 13–18 (2016).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Schleussner, C.-F. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 6, 827–835 (2016).
Article Google Scholar - MacDougall, A. Curr. Clim. Change Rep. 2, 39–47 (2016).
Article Google Scholar - Millar, R., Allen, M., Rogelj, J. & Friedlingstein, P. Oxford Rev. Econ. Policy 32, 323–342 (2016).
Article Google Scholar - Matthews, H. D., Solomon, S. & Pierrehumbert, R. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 370, 4365–4379 (2012).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Leach, N. et al. Nat. Geosci. 11, 574–579 (2018).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Tokarska, K. Nat. Geosci. 11, 546–547 (2018).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Jasanoff, S. Theory Cult. Soc. 27, 233–253 (2010).
Article Google Scholar - Geden, O. Nat. Geosci. 11, 380–383 (2018).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Rogelj, J. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 6, 245–252 (2016).
Article Google Scholar - Geden, O. & Löschel, A. Nat. Geosci. 10, 881–882 (2017).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Shah, A., Mullainathan, S. & Shafir, E. Science 338, 682–685 (2012).
Article CAS Google Scholar - MacMartin, D., Ricke, K. & Keith, D. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 376, 20160454 (2018).
Article Google Scholar - Asayama, S. & Hulme, M. Clim. Policy https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2019.1623165 (2019).
Article Google Scholar - Heyward, C. & Rayner, S. in Anthropology and Climate Change: From Actions to Transformations (eds Crate, S. & Nuttall, M.) 86–104 (Routledge, 2016).
- Sillmann, J. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 5, 290–292 (2015).
Article Google Scholar - Grundmann, R. Nat. Geosci. 9, 562–563 (2016).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Evensen, D. Nat. Clim. Change 9, 428–430 (2019).
Article Google Scholar - Allen, M. Why protesters should be wary of ‘12 years to climate breakdown’ rhetoric. https://theconversation.com/why-protesters-should-be-wary-of-12-years-to-climate-breakdown-rhetoric-115489 (2019).
- Hulme, M. Nat. Clim. Change 6, 222–224 (2016).
Article Google Scholar
Acknowledgements
S.A. acknowledges the support of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow (17J02207). W.P. acknowledges the support of the Economic and Social Research Council Future Leaders Research programme, “Making Climate Social” project (ES/N002016/1)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
- Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Shinichiro Asayama - Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Shinichiro Asayama & Mike Hulme - Department of Geography, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Rob Bellamy - German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin, Germany
Oliver Geden - iHuman, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Warren Pearce
Authors
- Shinichiro Asayama
- Rob Bellamy
- Oliver Geden
- Warren Pearce
- Mike Hulme
Corresponding author
Correspondence toMike Hulme.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Asayama, S., Bellamy, R., Geden, O. et al. Why setting a climate deadline is dangerous.Nat. Clim. Chang. 9, 570–572 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0543-4
- Published: 22 July 2019
- Version of record: 22 July 2019
- Issue date: August 2019
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0543-4