While the new “Planetary Health Check 2025. A Scientific Assessment of the State of the Planet.” impressively shows 3 so called “planetary boundaries” within the “high risk zone” (introduction of novel entities, modification of biogeochemical flows, change in biosphere integrity), 1 within “high risk zone” and “increasing risk” (climate change), and 3 within “increasing risk” (ocean acidification, freshwater change, and land system change), and only 2 within the “safe operating space” (stratospheric ozone depletion, increasing in atmospheric aerosol loading) – so 7 out of 9 “planetary boundaries” outside the “safe operating space” (see the following graph), the UN “Climate Summit 2025” remains a place with many empty seats and rather low interest (see picture).
The also new “The Production Gap Report 2025” shows a significantly rising gap between the “greenhouse gas” (GHG) emission targets from the “UN Paris Agreement” based on the calculations from the “Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change” (IPCC) and the actual government plans and projections (see the following graph).
Furthermore, latest data shows accelerating temperature rise and there is good reason, even the worst case scenario from IPCC is significantly underestimated, the speed of the upcoming temperature rise will be significantly faster than the worst case scenario and the intensity of the temperature rise exponential.
GHG sinks (mainly soil, plants & forests, and oceans), so far buffering the temperature rise up to a delay of ca. 30 years between GHG emissions and actual temperature rise (see the following graph based on data from “Our World in Data“), seem to be full now and self-reinforcing cycles, typical for a complex and dynamic system, are taking over (for more on that go to our first draft on a “trans- & interdisciplinary global warming scenario“).
Mitigating global warming, climate change, and the loss of biodiversity is too big to fail
Unfortunately, human cognitive abilities tend to a so called “linear projection” (cf. e.g. Dörner, D.: “Die Logik des Misslingens: Strategisches Denken in komplexen Situationen”, 2002) within inert and dynamic systems with “self-reinforcing cycles”, like the “climate system” of our mother planet Earth. This so called “linear projection” is the root cause for all fatal catastrophes so far in human history.
With all the greatest respect and acknowledgment to all the fantastic effort from the “United Nations“, especially from “UN Climate Change” (UNFCCC), the so far performance in mitigating global warming, climate change, and the loss of biodiversity is simply deadly for (not thousands, not millions, but) potentially billions of people.
“(…) Here we must admit failure. Failure to protect peoples and nations from unmanageable impacts of human induced climate change. But we don’t have to keep failing. (…)”
Johan Rockström, UN Climate Summit 2025
Global GHG emissions, the “key performance indicator” (KPI) for mitigating global warming, are still raising and the “National Determined Contributions” (NDCs) clearly and significantly fall short of the “Paris Agreement”.
The “Republic of China” shows leadership, willingness, and efforts but demands further lifestyle improvements, the “Republic of India” did not actively take part within the “Climate Summit 2025”, the current “United States of America” administration wants to maximise quick and easy profits from fossile fuel business, denies global warming and will increase the GHG emissions, the “European Union” countries suffer the pressure from globalised markets, national debts, and the need for economic growth to remain in power and have a hard time to transfer further away from “good old technologies” (e.g. cars powered by fossil fuels).
How is it possible not to keep failing?
I very much support the approach taken from Mr. Rockström. With mitigating global warming, climate change, and the loss of biodiversity, we so far witness the greatest political failure in human history.
I ask for “radical honesty” about the accelerating temperature rise, the unpredictability of the self-reinforcing cycles, which is the worst case out of a “management perspective” and no CEO would let that happen, the further elaboration of “trans- & interdisciplinary global warming scenarios“, and the development of a new approach with mitigating global warming, climate change, and the loss of biodiversity.
I ask the leaders and decision makers to be brave now. I asked them to acknowledge the failure. Failure is not the issue. Not reflecting, rethinking, learning, and then (radically) changing the approached is the issue.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Albert Einstein
We pledge for a new way to mitigate global warming and it starts with a first and most likely historic direct democratic vote on “climate action” with potentially 5.5 billion peoples easily participating (they are connected to the WWW).
picture shows last moments of UN “Climate Summit 2025“, New York City, UN Web TV (2025/09/24)