Charles David Keeling: "CO2 emissions have an

impact on the climate"

Charles David Keeling y George Bush

This American scientist is known as the father of global warming research. In 1958 it
began recording carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, at a time when scientists did
not believe that emissions from cars or factories could have an impact on the climate.

The scientist measured CO2 levels in the atmosphere and found that they were
increasing year after year, an upward trend that has been dubbed the Keeling Curve.
What this scientist's graphs showed is that the concentration of greenhouse gases was
increasing. With this data in hand, Keeling warned, for the first time, that this situation
could be due to human action.

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The influence of Keeling's research was undoubtedly evident in the scientific field with
the continuation of these climate studies. However, his warning also had its translation
into international politics, as the Kyoto Protocol demonstrates.

Al Gore: "Global warming is one of the biggest moral

movements"

Al Gore at the World Economic Forum in Davos

Albert Arnold Gore, or as he is better known, Al Gore, was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2007 for his climate activism. An award that recognized his work in
disseminating climate change, but also the fact that he laid the foundations to counteract
it.

The former Democratic Party candidate for president of the United States in 2000 and,
previously, vice president of the country under Bill Clinton, between 1993 and 2011, is
a standard-bearer for the climate cause and founder of the climate change NGO The
Climate Reality Project.

The climate emergency has been evident in his trajectory since the early 1990s when he
published The Earth in the Balance. Later he would publish An Inconvenient Truth, a
title that would lead to a documentary film in which he would star and that would win
two Oscars in 2006.

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As early as 1976, in his early years as a congressman, he began to speak out about
global warming and toxic waste. They would be the first steps in a discourse against
global warming and in favor of clean air and water. Gore presents the reality of the
climate crisis and its consequences for the planet, starting with the high emissions of
greenhouse gases, continuing with the consequent rise in temperatures and the melting
of the poles, and defending the use of renewable energies.

The former vice president of the United States pointed out that the fight against global
warming is one of the greatest moral movements, along with the abolition of slavery,
apartheid, women's suffrage and gay rights. Along these lines, he argues that the global
economy requires a substantial update to be more sustainable and for the world to
survive the climate crisis.

Ban Ki-moon: "We don't have a plan B because there is no

planet B"

Ban Ki-moon

Ban Ki-moon was Secretary-General of the United Nations. The South Korean took an
active stance against climate change, which he repeatedly referred to as a global
challenge. "There is no time to lose and we have much to gain by acting now against
climate change," the former United Nations secretary general said.

Ban Ki-moon made climate change a priority on his agenda and invested a lot of effort
in encouraging alliances between different sectors of society to implement
transformative projects against the climate crisis: "We don't have a plan B because there
is no planet B and probably the future will get worse."

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"We are the first generation to end poverty and the last generation to take steps to avoid
the worst impact of climate change. Future generations will judge us harshly if we fail
to maintain our moral and historical responsibility," said the former UN secretary-
general.

Patricia Espinosa: Climate change "is a destabilizing

factor"

Patricia Espinosa at COP 23 in Bonn.

Since 2016, Patricia Espinosa has been the executive secretary of the UN Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC). With extensive experience in the field of international
relations, Espinosa specialises in climate change, sustainable development, gender
equality and the defence of human rights.

The executive secretary of the UNFCCC defends development in all regions of the
world, but from the understanding of the link between the goals set by the Paris
Agreement and the sustainable development goals.

"What happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic," Espinosa said in an interview.
"If we want to address climate change in the region, along with all the associated
impacts, we must commit to multilateralism, commit to ratifying the Paris Agreement
and significantly increase climate ambitions by 2020."

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At last year' s Climate Week in New York, Espinosa highlighted the need for
leadership and a multilateral commitment against climate change and considered that
the fight against this global challenge involves more and more actors. A message that
alludes to the commitment of companies, financial institutions, regions and cities.

The current situation is "extraordinarily critical," says Espinosa, who stresses that
climate change is "a destabilizing factor" that threatens security in many places. "What
we are talking about is the human being and how the life of the human species is going
to continue on this planet; how man is going to live; of how our grandchildren are going
to live, because the planet, in one way or another, is going to go on."

Jeffrey D. Sachs: "We are all climate refugees"

Jeffrey D. Sachs

The American economist and professor has stood out for his work in the field of
sustainable development, global macroeconomics and the fight against poverty. Sachs,
who was an adviser to three U.N. secretaries-general, is also director of the Center for
Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Between 2022 and 2016 he was also
director of the Earth Institute.

This economist believes that the conversation around climate change can no longer be
about whether to believe in it or not. Today, according to Sachs, "we are all climate
refugees and we must chart a path to safety." Thus, this economist recently pointed out
that his hopes for solving the climate crisis are pinned on Europe.

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"Separating nature from the economy is how we have blindly entered the tragedy,"
analyzes the expert, who argues that economic policy must be combined with climate
and technology "if we want to have any chance of saving ourselves."

From his point of view, Sachs believes that companies that do not support the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals will run into profitability problems: "Many
companies make profits from other companies with practices that are not sustainable."

Christiana Figueres: Reducing emissions to "avoid

suffering never known, not even in the world wars"

Christiana Figueres

The former secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
between 2010 and 2016, Christiana Figueres, is the woman behind the Paris Agreement.
His was a key role in leading the entire process.

The former UN Climate Change chief is also a co-founder of the Global Optimism
initiative. This environmental diplomat took the lead in international climate change
negotiationsafter the Copenhagen summit failed.

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The diplomat aspires to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible
and "avoid suffering never known before, not even in the world wars." Figueres
believes there is finally enough anger against climate change. "Young people between
the ages of 12 and 20 are taking to the streets, fed up with seeing the world they're going
to inherit."

The former head of UN Climate Change has pointed out that "we can now say that the
next decade has the potential to see the fastest economic transition in history".

William Nordhaus: "Taxing CO2 emissions"

William Nordhaus

The man who can be considered the father of the economics of climate change was a
forerunner in this perspective. In 1976 he wrote an article entitled Economic Growth
and Climate Change, but it would not be until 1988 when William Nordhaus published,
along with other authors, the scientific article that talked about how the Earth was
warming because of greenhouse gas emissions.

Last year, the Yale University professor was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.
One of Nordhaus's great contributions is the development of integrated models that
combine an economic model and a climate model and connect investment in innovation
and energy use with the effects of climate change.

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Nordhaus advocates the establishment of a tax on CO2 emissions, the inclusion of

countries with lower incomes in the reduction of emissions through economic
incentives, or the creation of what he called Climate Clubs, a project that aims to
prevent some countries from benefiting from the reduction of emissions made by others
without contributing to their effort.
Bill Gates: "Environmentalists waste their time pressuring
investors to abandon fossil fuels"

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft

The American tycoon Bill Gates is known for being the founder of Microsoft and for his
fortune, but also for his philanthropic work. Together with his wife, he chairs the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest charities in the world.

Last year, together with former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and
World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva, Gates launched the Global Commission on
Adaptation, an initiative aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change.

Gates believes it is necessary to implement policies that help the most vulnerable
populations and, if there is one thing he has emphasized in his speech, it has been
promoting innovation to bring advances to the places that need them most.

However, in a recent interview withFinancial Times, Gates pointed out that

theEnvironmentalists waste their time pressuring investors to abandon fossil
fuels.Instead, he argues, it's more useful to bet oninnovative companies to fight climate
change.

"Those who want to change the world should put their money and energies into
technologies that slow down CO2 emissions and help people adapt to global warming,"
he said.
Justin Trudeau: "Raising the price of pollution will spur
clean growth"

Activist Greta Thunberg and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made the fight against climate change the
main focus of his campaign for the 2015 Canadian elections. After winning the election,
Trudeau claimed that "Canada was back on the global stage as a leader in the fight
against climate change."

His promises included fulfilling the G20 agreements to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies
and developing green energy in collaboration with the United States and Mexico, as
well as meeting the Paris Agreement's goals of limiting the rise in the planet's
temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Canada's prime minister launched the $2 billion Low Carbon Economy Fund in 2017 to
support projects that generate clean growth and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Increasing CO2 emissions prices is one of the most efficient ways to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions," the Canadian government said in a statement. "Clearly,
raising the price of pollution will spur innovation, clean growth, and job creation for the
middle class."

Angela Merkel: "May this century be called, with

credibility, the century of decarbonisation"
German Chancellor Angela Merkel at an International Labour Organization conference
in Geneva, Switzerland.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was dubbed the climate chancellor by the German
media in the wake of her commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In fact,
even before taking the reins of the German government, between 1994 and 1998,
Merkel was Minister of the Environment.

The German chancellor was instrumental in persuading G8 leaders to accept the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to reduce CO2 emissions. He also led
European negotiations to promote policies to reduce the gases responsible for global
warming.

Energy policy has been one of the main pillars of his government. "We want to end the
use of nuclear power and get to the era of renewable energy as quickly as possible,"
Merkel said.

He was instrumental in building support for the Paris Agreement. "Now, we must agree
on a binding review mechanism under international law so that this century can be
called, credibly, the century of decarbonization," Merkel said. It has been proven that
the Paris Agreement will be a historic milestone in international climate protection. It's
a sign of hope."

Barack Obama: "Political systems are not well designed to

solve a problem now that people will feel the impact of
later"
Former U.S. President Barack Obama considers climate change to be one of the
greatest challenges facing civilization today, along with inequality and a polarized
society. In addition, in his vision there is a clear commitment for technology to play a
crucial role as part of the solution to global warming.

If there is one phrase that sums up Obama's thinking on climate change, it is this:
"There is one issue that will define the future of this century more dramatically than any
other, and that is the urgent challenge of a changing climate." He argues that it is not a
distant problem: "It's happening here and now."

Among the political accomplishments of his two terms in the White House is his
Climate Action Plan, announced in 2013, which aimed to reduce carbon pollution in the
United States, prepare the country for the impact of the climate crisis, and lead
international efforts to combat climate change.

"Climate change is perversely designed to be difficult to solve politically," Obama said

at a White House event. "Political systems are not well designed to solve a problem now
that people will feel the impact of later. If we're going to solve this, we're going to need
significant innovation."

Hoesung Lee: "We have the means to fight climate

change, we need the will"
Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC

South Korean economist Hoesung Lee is the chairman of the Panel of Experts on
Climate Change. Also a professor of climate change economics, energy and sustainable
development at Korea University's School of Energy and Environmental Policy, he is
committed to harnessing knowledge from the business world and the private sector to
combat climate change.

"It is necessary to involve the business and financial sector. Governments alone cannot
solve all the problems of climate change. We need the private sector to get more and
more involved."

The energy and environment expert pointed out that the planet must join forces to
jointly tackle the task of reducing emissions. "We have the means to fight climate
change, we need the will," he said in an interview with ABC in 2017.