For the past 20 years fighting against climate change, I’ve watched and heard many debates about whether a politician or company CEO is a climate leader. Back in Kyoto in 1997, the EU’s target of a 20 per cent cut in emissions by 2020 was praised by some as leadership. It was far ahead of what any other developed country was proposing.
It was a pledge made at a time when Angela Merkel was Germany’s Environment Minister. Years later, when Merkel became chancellor and committed Germany to scale up renewables and energy efficiency while phasing out nuclear, she was heralded by some as the Climate Chancellor.
When U.S. President Obama put forward a Climate Action Plan in 2015 that used executive authority to cut carbon pollution by 26-28 per cent by 2025, finally bringing the US positively into a global climate agreement, it was also seen as climate leadership.
This level of climate leadership, however, has proven insufficient and we’re now at the moment of truth. After losing decades when countries and companies could have reduced emissions in a step by step fashion, along the lines of what Merkel and Obama claimed to be doing in the past, we have run out of time.
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