Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
40
The Great Transformation toward a post-fossil fuel economy is
certainly a business opportunity – but it is much more than
that: It is a matter of ethics.
This does not contradict at all the fact that cutting our green-
house gas emissions would be a downright rational choice that
is based on sound science, as it is clear that unabated climate
Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are breaking new records every year. At present,
we are on a track that will lead us to global warming of 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the
century. The consequences are fatal, and it is mainly the poor of this world who will have
to pay for it. Professor Dr. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, member of the IPCC and Director
of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), warns: “If the world is to avoid
dangerous climate change, the discussion in Rio needs to go beyond the very broad topic of
sustainability and the very narrow concept of ‘green growth.’ ” The following is an exposition
of his standpoint.
By Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
The world
is awaiting
innovation
Positions