nearing a tipping point on climate change<\/a>, species and land loss and other harms. But efforts to address those problems largely have been pursued through individual agreements that haven\u2019t made nearly enough progress, they said.<\/p>\nInstead, they advocate an approach that involves every area of government, the financial sector, industry and citizens and a circular economy that recognizes that natural resources are limited.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re saying is we can become much more sustainable, but it will take unprecedented change to transform these systems,\u201d Watson said. \u201cIt has to be done rapidly now because we\u2019re running out of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Global tipping point
\n![\"Climate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25342781355320-e1765385033136.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The Gibson Power Plant in Princeton, Indiana. Photo by Joshua A. Bickel\/AP Photo<\/p>\n
The report lays out a dire future if the world continues on its current path.<\/p>\n
Emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases \u2014 primarily from burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil \u2014 reached a new high in 2024, despite decades of negotiations between countries to curb emissions.<\/p>\n
Ten years ago, almost 200 nations signed the Paris Agreement with the goal of limiting future warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times to avoid or lessen the most catastrophic effects of climate change. But on the current trajectory, the climate could warm by 2.4 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, Watson said.<\/p>\n
Scientists say climate change is contributing to wilder weather extremes, including more intense storms, drought, heat and wildfires.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, climate change is a threat multiplier, meaning that it makes things like land degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss worse, said Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University and chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, who wasn\u2019t involved in the report.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t fix climate change, we\u2019re not going to be able to fix these other issues too,\u201d Hayhoe said.<\/p>\n
Among other challenges: Up to 40% of land area globally is degraded, and pollution contributes to an estimated 9 million deaths a year.<\/p>\n
Adopting a comprehensive approach would be expensive, scientists acknowledge, but cost far less than the harms that otherwise could result.<\/p>\n
The report says that to achieve a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and restore biodiversity, about $8 trillion in global investment is needed every year. But starting in 2050, economic benefits will surpass spending, growing to $20 trillion a year by 2070 and $100 trillion a year thereafter.<\/p>\n
Nations also must look beyond gross domestic product as a barometer for economic health, because it doesn\u2019t measure whether growth is sustainable or recognize its potential harms, Watson said.<\/p>\n
Environmental issues aren\u2019t the only things interlinked, Watson said. He also said governments, nonprofits, industry and the financial sector also must ensure that there are incentives and funding for renewable energy and sustainable agricultural practices, for example.<\/p>\n
University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn\u2019t involved in the report, welcomed its emphasis on tackling issues across governments and society.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must do what is right, rather than what seems politically expedient,\u201d Mann said. \u201cThe stakes are simply too great.\u201d<\/p>\n
International cooperation falters<\/p>\n
Despite the report\u2019s urgent call for action, international cooperation is anything but guaranteed, scientists say \u2014 especially as U.S. President Donald Trump has refused to participate in many of the discussions.<\/p>\n
Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, has called climate change a hoax. He\u2019s promoted fossil fuel use, canceled permits for renewable energy and is abandoning automobile fuel-efficiency standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cInternational action and agreements are becoming harder and harder,\u201d Watson said, noting that this year\u2019s U.N. climate conference in Brazil failed to \u201cmove in the direction we needed it to move\u201d with stronger commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other issues.<\/p>\n
Talks this summer on a treaty to address plastic pollution in Geneva ended without an agreement, though a U.N. conference earlier in the year garnered commitments for funding to protect global biodiversity.<\/p>\n
Watson said that the U.S. didn\u2019t attend the intergovernmental meeting in Nairobi, but joined discussions on the last day and \u201csaid they didn\u2019t agree with anything in the report.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome countries might say if the U.S. is not willing to act, why should we act?\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n
Still, he believes that some countries will move forward, while others, including the U.S., could fall behind.<\/p>\n
Hayhoe, the Texas Tech scientist, said that she\u2019s confident changes will happen, because the stakes are becoming too great.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not about saving the planet. The planet will be orbiting the sun long after we\u2019re gone,\u201d Hayhoe said. \u201cThe question is, will there be a healthy, thriving human society on that planet? And the answer to that question is very much up for grabs at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
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