In 2023, renewable sources generated more electricity worldwide than coal - the fossil fuel with the largest greenhouse gas emissions - for the first time in about a century. Meanwhile, coal consumption has continued to drop annually.

This milestone is cause for optimism, yet it arrives 50 years after scientists first warned of climate change's devastating effects. At that time, certain economists forecasted that societies would balk at giving up affordable fossil fuel-driven comforts for distant future benefits.

Delays in vital energy and industrial reforms have made averting the climate crisis impossible. Today, we confront its tangible impacts.

Among these is the steady rise in food costs - projections indicate climate change contributes about one percentage point yearly to European prices, meaning our inaction on global warming plays a direct role in these increases.

A full transition from fossil fuels could still curb accelerating price rises - if it does not require another half-century.

Taking Action on Climate Today

“Don’t mourn, organise,” urged US activist Rafe Pomerance, who grasped climate change's implications in 1979 and championed awareness despite lacking scientific credentials.

In a lecture, he offered practical guidance: “I don’t think there is any magic solution that I could sum up in a few sentences. Throw yourself into it, learn about it, start talking about it and come up with things you can do locally. It could be a newspaper article, a meeting with the mayor, or anything that can get started.”

The origins: During spring 1979, Pomerance was reviewing a Washington office report on coal. A final sentence in one chapter shocked him: fossil fuel combustion could drastically reshape the global climate in mere decades. This was entirely new to him, despite the profound ramifications.

Through his efforts and the scientists he rallied, climate change gained global recognition within ten years.

A narrow escape: By 1989, representatives from over 60 nations were poised to endorse an emissions freeze pact. However, John Sununu from President George H. W. Bush’s team instructed US delegates to obstruct binding commitments, resulting in a vague final statement lacking firm goals. Sununu dismissed climate models as “technical nonsense” and saw them as an assault on economic expansion.