Goal 1: Protect the global climate system from further harm due to emissions of greenhouse gases and help humanity and the natural world adapt to unavoidable climate change.

If trends in greenhouse gas emissions growth are not altered, global temperatures are expected to rise between 1.4 and 5.8° C (2.5 to 10.4° F) by 2100. The effects of such temperature changes may be severely detrimental to agricultural production, water supply, forests, and overall human development for a significant portion of the world’s population.

To prevent a potentially catastrophic increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, global emissions would need to decrease dramatically during this century, perhaps on the order of 60 to 80 percent below current levels. Such reductions require large-scale changes. Existing technologies—such as renewable energy—must penetrate the market and start cutting emissions. Business must be engaged and supportive, which requires market incentives and actions to promote them. An international climate change agreement is needed that includes the United States and key developing countries and that contains binding commitments to greenhouse gas reductions.

WRI’s climate goal encompasses three objectives: achieving international agreements, reducing U.S. domestic emissions, and working with key developing country cities to address urban transportation problems.