Annual Report 2025 - Report - Page 95
Tough questions, honest answers – a panel on the path forward to tackle climate change
Young Scientist Elisa Rottner argued for shifting to renewable
energy sources globally to decrease CO2 emissions
David Beasley used his time in Lindau to engage in numerous
discussions with other participants
tainty about future technologies and impacts is real, but
not a license to wait. We must “acknowledge uncertainty,” weigh the trade-offs, and act before delaying becomes
very costly.
Joseph E. Stiglitz underscored distributional realities.
Carbon pricing, for example, can hit poorer households
harder and spark backlash – as seen with France’s Yellow
Vests. The remedy is to use “multiple instruments” and
frame climate action as pro-growth and, if well designed,
pro-equity. Hansen added that trust improves when we
talk plainly about what happens with revenues, otherwise people remain suspicious.
Finally, technology and justice. Climate-related disasters are increasing, and nations that have contributed
least to global warming suffer most. Elisa Rottner pointed to technology transfer – helping developing countries
leapfrog to renewables. Luckily, Steven Chu says, there’s
still time left to develop such groundbreaking technologies and drive prices down. “The damage is mostly going
to be done in the next centuries”, so humans still have a
chance to prevent the worst. “It’s like you’ve been smoking cigarettes for 30 years and you start to see a series of
mutations”, Chu says. “But unlike cigarette smoking, we
can reverse it. You’ve got to suck the carbon out of the air
by all and any means.”
Beyond the scientific insights, several speakers stressed
that climate and food challenges are ultimately governance challenges. Resilience, they argued, is not built
through single breakthroughs but through steady investment in institutions that can anticipate shocks, coordinate responses, and learn from failure. The discussions in
Lindau converged on a simple but sobering conclusion –
that humanity must choose between reacting to crises at
ever-greater cost or investing early in stability. The tools
are already in our hands; what remains is the resolve to
use them.
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