The recent explosion in air travel and the shipping of material goods pose a dire threat to the impending challenges of climate change. With targets for international waters and airspace omitted from the Kyoto Protocol and international organisations taking their time to implement climate-friendly policies, globalisation is doing little to mitigate the causes of climate change. If air travel and sea shipping combined were a country, they would come in the top ten emitters of CO2 annually. But technology for cutting emissions is lagging and the time to minimize global warming to 2°C is running out. If the options are to halt international travel and shipping or for us to consume less overall, will the Paris Agreement be a realistic force for change?

This talk is hosted by Professor Alice Larkin