IPCC paints a grim picture, but it’s still not too late to act

A wildfire ripping through the Eldorado national forest in California, US, in 2021. ‘Recent events have exposed the wilful blindness of all our leaders in the face of this global catastrophe.’ Photograph: Noah Berger/AP

The devastation and human misery described in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (IPCC issues ‘bleakest warning yet’ on impacts of climate breakdown. 28 February) stands as an indictment of failing political leaders and their complicity with a fossil fuel industry that is literally destroying our only home.

Scientists warn that we must act quickly to transition away from coal, oil and natural gas to clean energy. The longer we delay the transition, the more catastrophic the impact. Our elected leaders have no excuse; we must pressure them to act. Affordable clean energy is increasingly available. There are policy solutions. In near unanimity, economists say that the best way to speed the transition is to make the polluting industry pay a fee on its carbon pollution.