“This is how we get from doom and gloom to climate hope,” Langer writes in a September 23 op ed: Rather than pursuing endless negotiations toward the next climate agreement, countries should adopt a global energy efficiency treaty to drastically reduce emissions, curb climate impacts, and build a thriving economy. “Setting reduction targets has as much appeal as a root canal, only with a much higher incidence of failure,” she says. “Instead of negotiating cuts, wouldn’t it be more appealing—and quite possibly more effective—for world leaders to sign on to advancing clean, healthy, low-carbon economies, with all of the benefits that entails for people, business and biodiversity?” Langer points to her own organization for examples of the innovative steps to cutting energy use in cities, home to half the world’s population and the setting for 70% of global GHG emissions.
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