Briefing | Encouraging climate action

Try jam today

Policies to slow down warming may be more attractive if framed as ways of speeding up growth

FOR years, people who worry about climate change have tried to persuade, cajole or scare governments into doing more to stop it. Nothing has made much difference. Carbon-dioxide emissions have risen relentlessly; in 2013 the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at its fastest rate for 30 years.

Now, a team of the great and the good has a cannier pitch. In the lead-up to the New York climate-change summit they have issued a report arguing not that global warming will destroy the Earth, but that much of what is needed to reduce its risks would be a good idea anyway.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "Try jam today"

Xi who must be obeyed

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