What should my government do?
In June 2009, the lead authors of several of the key scientific papers in this area presented an open letter to the UNFCCC negotiators in Bonn urging them to acknowledge the need to limit cumulative carbon dioxide emissions as one element of their long-term vision to avoid dangerous climate change.
The scientists did not call for a specific target: the “budget” depends on the warming we decide we can tolerate and the risk we are prepared to accept of exceeding it. These are not purely scientific questions. But the need in principle to limit cumulative carbon dioxide emissions applies regardless, and has practical implications for the best ways to reduce emissions in the short and medium term.