Why should we act?

Climate change is like cancer: the quicker you treat it, the easier and the cheaper it is to get it under control. Yes, we can save some money now by doing nothing. But in the longer run, that would be a very bad investment choice.

Would you seriously consider betting all your life's savings on a single number at roulette?Ignoring the potential consequences of cascading effects of continuing climate change entails the risk of destroying life - and business - as we know it. In every (well run) company it is common practice to assess possible risks to the company. The bigger the risk, the more important it is to minimize the chance of its occurrence. Why don't we treat our future with the same care as we treat our finances?

In some American Indian cultures, to own something means that you have to take care of it. In our Western society, owning something is often seen as having the right to destroy it. If we continue our current way of life, if we continue to own this planet the way we currently do, then we force the children in our homes - as well as a large number of future generations - to live in an environment that no longer resembles the one that human civilization as developed in; instead, earth will be a much impoverished, a more brutal, and a more difficult planet to live and to survive on than it currently is. Personally, I do not believe that we have a moral right to do that to future generations.