The world’s leaders convene in Paris in early December to discuss climate change. The last such gatherings, at Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010, resolved that global warming will become an urgent danger at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6° F) above preindustrial levels. Scientifically, that’s the point where we’ll be “roasted, toasted, fried and grilled,” as the International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde later put it. Unfortunately, Copenhagen and Cancun left the barbecue on high.
Outraged by this inaction, a Dutch urban planning lawyer named Roger Cox wrote a book called “Revolution Justified, which lays out the expert consensus. Historical emissions have already baked in a rise of about 1.5 degrees Celsius. If we don’t fiddle with the knobs, we’ll reach 2 degrees in 2030. For a 50-50 chance of avoiding the danger zone, the world needs to reduce emissions between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels in the next five years. That justifies revolution—and if the revolution won’t come from politicians, then it needs to come from citizen-plaintiffs.
