Opinion: 'Global accord on climate won’t be enough'

To avert a climate catastrophe in time, far more will be needed from countries, writes Vinod Thomas in an opinion piece in the Japan Times. A global stand must be bolstered by country initiatives, which will make economic sense as the cost of climate-related hazards — floods, storms, droughts and heat waves — are on the rise.

According to the article, a strengthened framework for disaster resilience is needed, and promoting this among United Nations member states is the goal of the Third World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in March in Sendai.

The crucial question is whether emerging country actions — by governments, businesses and households — are too little, too late. Changes on the needed scale can happen, but only if we realize that climate risks are local and imminent and that climate mitigation is in our own interest.