About
A safe climate is not simply an environmental aspiration; it is a foundational condition for ecological stability and functioning societies. Restoring safe climate conditions is therefore a protection objective, reflecting the fundamental dependence of people and nature on a stable climate system.
A Different Benchmark for Climate Action
Current global climate advocacy and policy remain largely centred on stabilising a climate that has already been dangerously altered. Prevailing approaches generally focus on limiting harm rather than restoring the conditions that previously supported long-term societal and ecological stability. In doing so, they are accepting increasing levels of loss and disruption as unavoidable.
The evidence from tipping points, ice sheets and other critical Earth systems makes clear that the climate we have today cannot be regarded as safe. Nor can the promise of adaptation provide a reasonable level of protection against the levels of warming and disruption currently projected. The question is therefore not simply how much additional warming can be tolerated, but what conditions are required to provide lasting protection.
The safe climate goal establishes this different benchmark. Rather than asking what level of damage societies can tolerate, it starts from the principle of maximum protection: identify what must be protected, determine the climate conditions necessary to provide that protection, and pursue the actions required to achieve them. This shifts the focus from managing escalating impacts and loss to restoring conditions that support human safety, ecological stability and functioning societies.
Restoring a Safe Global Climate
If protection is the benchmark, the task is to identify the climate conditions required for long-term human and ecological stability and what would be required to restore them. Two core restoration objectives are:
Temperature restoration objective
Return long-term global mean temperature to the pre-industrial range (approximately 0°C warming relative to the 1850–1900 baseline).
Atmospheric greenhouse gas restoration objective
Restore atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, including CO₂ to below 350 ppm, with methane and nitrous oxide reduced to levels consistent with a safe climate.
Why the Safe Climate Goal Matters
The safe climate goal extends beyond climate policy. Across risk management, economics, national security, public health and governance, climate stability provides a foundation for security, prosperity and wellbeing.
If protection is the objective, climate policy should be measured against its capacity to deliver that protection. Restoring safe climate conditions must therefore be the goal.
Action
Resorting to Safe
Any credible pathway towards restoring a safe climate is likely to require coordinated action across several critical areas:
Step 1
Reduce emissions — Drive global greenhouse gas emissions to zero at emergency speed.
Step 1
Remove excess carbon — Draw down atmospheric CO₂ at scale towards concentrations consistent with a safe climate.
Step 1
Reflect for cooling — Research and assess safe interventions to reflect solar energy, rapidly reduce warming and protect critical Earth systems.
Step 1
Resilience while restoring — Protect people, communities, infrastructure and ecosystems from near-term climate impacts while efforts to restore safe climate conditions are investigated and pursued.
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