David Spratt: I think the sad truth is that Western governments’ view of the climate is largely delusional. They don’t understand the evidence. And in many cases they don’t understand that they don’t understand. Many climate scientists say that at 2°C, we’ll actually go over the dangerous tipping points. If, as many policy-makers are suggesting, we allow warming to 4°, we won’t recognize our planet: no rainforests, no ice sheets, most species dead. Scientist James Lovelock says once you get to 4° you’ll go up to 6° or 7° because you’ll lose the algae in the upper layer of the ocean which draws down carbon. The only parts of this planet that will be habitable for humans will be south of Melbourne and north of London.
Yang Ailun: In China there isn’t really a debate about whether the threshold should be 2°, 3° or 4°. The Government openly questions whether 2o should be the objective. It says that Chinese scientists haven’t looked into this scenario enough to say whether it is the right target. But the deeper reason is that if the world accepts the 2° objective, it means a very dramatic change to the way that we live. I think that the Government is concerned about limiting its economic growth.
