In Response to Climate Change, Citizens in Advanced Economies Are Willing To Alter How They Live and Work
Pew Research CenterMar 22, 2022
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to clearly define the world’s governments' obligations to fighting climate change. The High Courts' legal opinion could compel states to increase their investments and actions.
In response to the vote, UN chief Antonio Guterres said the ICJ has “tremendous importance and can have a long-standing impact on the international legal order.”
While some remain skeptical over the necessity for and efficacy of climate action, data shows that a majority of people believe in and support the actions being taken by international organizations like the UN. Steps such as these will be invaluable in helping mitigate the impacts of climate change and will help reduce the loss of life, property, and cost to world economies in the coming years caused by global warming.
Though many are celebrating this UN vote as a pivotal moment of progress, it may well prove to be more of the empty rhetoric that has been delivered by the international community for at least three decades. Despite the increasing urgency of the climate crisis and the need to stop human damage to the environment in its tracks, organizations like the UN are continuing to prioritize specious, bureaucratic agreements (which are often later reneged on) over pragmatic policy.
There is an 85% chance that there will be at least 2 degrees celsius of global warming by 2100, according to the Metaculus prediction community.