SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION

Environmental breakdown is occurring at an unprecedented rate (Naafs et al., 2016; Ipbes, 2018). The last half century has seen catastrophic deterioration in a number of key natural systems (Steffen et al., 2015). If left unchecked, these changes could result in serious longterm damage including mass extinctions as well as enormous social, economic and political dislocation for people around the world (IPCC, 2018; Ipbes, 2018). Further, these effects are likely to be unevenly distributed with the most immediate and severe effects concentrated in regions already facing developmental challenges (IPCC, 2014). As such, it is critical that we collectively respond.

A key component of environmental destabilisation relates to human emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. According to the scientific community, these emissions, associated with a number of industrial processes and broader energy use, are linked to increases in average global temperatures with a high degree of certainty (IPCC, 2014). These emissions relate to fundamental aspects of our economies. The IPCC’s recent report investigating the implications of 1.5° C as opposed to the 2° C warming over preindustrial levels,1 found that a ceiling of 1.5° C limits damage in a number of key respects. However, this will “require rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land urban and infrastructure (including transport and buildings), and industrial systems” (IPCC, 2018).