Quotes on Climate Change

This is an historic step forward in the world's efforts to combat a truly global threat.

In the end, the question is not, how do we use nature to serve our interests? It's how can we use humans to serve nature's interest?'

How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew what was happening to the world and did nothing.

It is manifestly unjust that a privileged few should continue to accumulate excess goods, squandering available resources, while masses of people are living in conditions of misery at the very lowest level of subsistence.

Christians, in particular, realize that their responsibility within creation and their duty towards nature and the Creator are an essential part of their faith.

The hard truth is carbon pollution has built up in our atmosphere for decades now. And even if we Americans do our part, the planet will slowly keep warming for some time to come.

Those of us in positions of responsibility, we'll need to be less concerned with the judgment of special interests and well-connected donors, and more concerned with the judgment of posterity.

We can't just drill our way out of the energy and climate challenge that we face.

While we may not live to see the full realization of our ambition, we will have the satisfaction of knowing that the world we leave to our children will be better off for what we did.

Those who are already feeling the effects of climate change don't have time to deny it - they're busy dealing with it.

If we do not act together, we will surely perish.

Protecting our future on this planet depends on the conscious evolution of our species.

The debate's over. The people who dispute the international consensus on global warming are in the same category now with the people who think the moon landing was staged on a movie lot in Arizona.

Given the nature and magnitude of the challenge, national action alone is insufficient. No nation can address this challenge on its own. No region can insulate itself from these climate changes. That is why we need to confront climate change within a global framework, one that guarantees the highest level of international cooperation.

It's not a choice between our environment and our economy; it's a choice between prosperity and decline.

They used to ask: "How will this decision that we make today affect our people in the future?" Now we make decisions based on: "How does it affect me, now? How does it affect the next shareholders meeting, three months ahead? How does it affect my next political campaign?"

I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.

Either the Earth System would undergo major phase transitions as a result of unchecked human pressure on nature's capacities and resources or a "Great Transformation" towards global sustainability would be initiated in due course. Neither transitions nor transformations will be manageable without novel forms of global governance and markets.

A deal must include an equitable global governance structure. All countries must have a voice in how resources are deployed and managed.

The very lack of evidence is thus treated as evidence; the absence of smoke proves that the fire is very carefully hidden...A belief in invisible cats cannot be logically disproved although it does tell us a good deal about those who hold it.

We have a responsibility to protect the rights of generations, of all species, that cannot speak for themselves today. The global challenge of climate change requires that we ask no less of our leaders, or ourselves.