There is no doubt that the Earth's environment is at a crossroads and that the time for action is now. We know that policies and technologies exist to safeguard the environment that are cost effective and socially acceptable, but the question is whether there is the public and political will to address them.
Biodiversity continues to be lost at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels in both marine and terrestrial systems at unprecedented rates. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide now exceeds over 400ppmv and 2017 was the warmest year on record, with an ever increasing number of extreme weather events.