NRDC President: Climate Agreement Must Protect the Most Vulnerable by Aiming to 1.5 Degrees of Global Warming

PARIS (December 9, 2015) – Climate negotiators from the United States, China, European Union, Canada have suggested that an international agreement on climate change should call for policies that limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Centigrade and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.

Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, made the following statement in Paris today.

“Any climate agreement must respect the rights of the most vulnerable. For millions of people living on the harsh front lines of climate disaster, holding the line at 1.5 degrees of warming is a matter of survival. We cannot abandon these communities to the ravages of rising seas, widening deserts, raging wildfires, floods and storms.

“We call on every nation to embrace this principle and adopt this goal, by doing our part today and pledging to come back every five years to up our game. We must lay the groundwork here in Paris for a just transition from the fossil fuels that are driving climate change to the cleaner, smarter options that can power our future without imperiling our world. That’s the way to honor our promise to the people of every nation and protect the common home we share.”