Why delayed climate policies fail the planet

🌍 Ten Years After Paris: is the Climate Crisis a Disinformation Crisis? In 2015, the world made a historic promise: to keep global warming well below 2°C, and ideally below 1.5°C. We committed to major emission cuts by 2030, and net-zero by 2050. The Paris Agreement marked a new era of global climate cooperation. But ten years on, we're still struggling with cooperation while the World Meteorological Organization tells us that the Earth’s average temperature exceeded 1.5°C over a 12-month period (Feb 2023–Jan 2024) for the first time. Why? 🔍 A groundbreaking new study, led by 14 researchers for the International Panel on the Information Environment, reviewed 300 studies from 2015–2025. The findings are alarming: powerful interests – fossil fuel companies, populist parties, even some governments – are systematically spreading misleading narratives to delay climate action. 🧠 Misinformation isn't just about denying climate change. It’s now about strategic skepticism – minimizing the threat, casting doubt on science-based solutions, and greenwashing unsustainable practices. 📺 This disinformation flows through social media, news outlets, corporate reports, and even policy briefings. It targets all of us – but especially policymakers, where it can shape laws and delay critical decisions. 💡 So what can we do? 1️⃣ Legislate for transparency and integrity in climate communication. 2️⃣ Hold greenwashers accountable through legal action. 3️⃣ Build global coalitions of civil society, science, and public institutions. 4️⃣ Invest in climate and media literacy for both citizens and leaders. 5️⃣ Amplify voices from underrepresented regions – like Africa – where more research is urgently needed. We must protect not only the planet’s climate, but the integrity of climate information. 🔗 Read more on how disinformation is undermining climate progress – and what we can do about it: https://lnkd.in/eDN9hKAJ 🕰️ The window is small. But with truth, science, and collective action, we can still turn the tide.

Tony Blair’s New Climate Reset Report Promotes Delay, Not Action The Tony Blair Institute’s new report, The Climate Paradox, calls for a “pragmatic reset” of climate action. But its definition of pragmatism leans heavily on delay. Full article: https://lnkd.in/gak2QnBq Wrapped in polished media coordination and amplified by legacy outlets, the report recycles outdated narratives: that individual sacrifice is the problem, that carbon capture and new nuclear will rescue us, and that demand reduction is politically impossible. It embraces technology optimism, but not reality. Let’s be clear—there’s nothing pragmatic about betting on CCS, fusion, or SMRs to decarbonize this decade. These aren’t climate strategies; they’re stall tactics. The report’s blind spot is glaring: electrification, renewables, and storage are already scaling. They cut emissions, lower costs, and improve public health. By ignoring the primary energy fallacy and parroting fossil-industry talking points, the Blair Institute isn’t offering a new climate politics—it’s dressing up the old delay playbook in new language. We don’t need to wait. We need to deploy what works. That’s real pragmatism.

We talk a lot about how much climate action will cost. But we don’t talk nearly enough about what inaction is already costing us. Estimates suggest we’ll need about $266 trillion in climate finance under a 1.5°C scenario. That includes everything from clean tech to local community solutions and climate resilience infrastructure. This is obviously a lot of money, but the losses if we don't take action are much, much higher. If we continue on a business as usual path, it is estimated that unchecked warming could generate $1,266 trillion in cumulative damages by the end of the century. And yet climate investments continue to be framed as a burden. As something to be weighed against “more immediate” priorities (which, by the way, are all related to climate). We almost never apply that same scrutiny to the status quo, even though it demands constant bailouts, from flood recovery and wildfire response to surging healthcare costs from air pollution and extreme heat. It’s not just that delay is costly. It’s that delay is compounding. Every year we underinvest in climate resilience, we make future mitigation harder, more expensive, and less effective. If anything, one of the most damaging ideas we’ve inherited is the belief that action is optional and delay is neutral. It isn’t. Delay is a choice- and a costly one. What would it look like to build climate policy around that reality, rather than continue pretending we still have time to debate whether it’s “worth it”? #ClimateAction #CostOfInaction #ClimatePolicy #SystemsThinking #ClimateEconomics #NetZero #SustainabilityLeadership

I am outraged and alarmed by the UK government's decision to delay and scrap some of the key green targets that were supposed to lead us to net zero emissions by 2050. This is a grave mistake for the global fight against climate change and a breach of the public trust. The UK was one of the few countries that were close to reaching a 1.5°C pathway, but now it is risking falling behind and losing its credibility as a climate leader. The government's argument that Britain has over-delivered on climate action and that other countries should do more is not only false but also irresponsible. The UK still has a lot of work to do to decarbonize its economy, especially in the transport and heating sectors, which account for more than half of its emissions. One of the main challenges that businesses face in adopting low-carbon technologies and practices is policy uncertainty. When the government changes its mind on its climate commitments, it creates confusion and instability for investors, suppliers, and customers. This reduces the incentives and opportunities for innovation and growth and increases the costs and risks of doing business. By pushing back the deadline for phasing out new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035, the government is ignoring the urgent need to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from road transport. This will also harm the competitiveness of the UK car industry, which has invested heavily in electric vehicle manufacturing to meet the 2030 target. The government is also undermining consumer confidence and the market signals that are essential for driving the transition to clean mobility. It is abundantly clear that the Tories have no regard for the future of our planet, our economy, or our society. They are driven by short-term political calculations and vested interests, rather than by evidence and public opinion. They are undermining the UK's credibility on the global stage and jeopardizing our chances of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. This is not the time for complacency or compromise on climate action. We need a government that is committed to delivering on its promises and that listens to the science, the public, and the businesses that are ready and willing to embrace the green transition. We need a government that puts people and the planet first, not corrupt vested interests, politics and profits. #ClimateWeekNYC #GreenNewDeal #ukpolitics #netzero

𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥. When governments and industries deliberately weaken the very protections meant to safeguard health and ecosystems, the results aren’t just policy failures — they’re engineered outcomes. A global pattern emerges: weaken standards, outsource harms, disguise the risks, and keep the profits flowing. This week’s Regenerative Strategist unpacks the “race to the bottom”: 🧱 A global plastics treaty collapsed in Geneva, even as microplastics show up in blood, lungs, and arteries. 🌫️ Air pollution quietly kills 7 million people each year, yet regulators keep granting permits and delaying standards. ☣️ Britain raised pesticide limits thousands of times, the U.S. stalls on asbestos, Canada struck down “toxic” labels for plastics. 🤖 AI booms with no disclosure on its carbon or water footprint — and no safeguards for mental health crises. The pattern is clear: loopholes aren’t oversights. They’re designed. And when regulation is built to fail, harm doesn’t vanish — it multiplies, ricocheting through economies, ecosystems, and human lives. Breaking this cycle requires more than awareness. It means pressure: on policymakers, industries, and institutions that still treat survival as negotiable. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. #Decarbonization #UrbanAO #ClimateAction #CircularEconomy #NetZero #AIethics #PublicHealth