Temperature Rising

Human-induced climate change has an insidious characteristic that makes it particularly difficult to control: the consequences of our actions today, for better or worse, will not be felt immediately, but rather with a delay of several years. It is not those who are currently producing greenhouse gases that suffer the most from the consequences, but their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Furthermore, the geographical distribution is unequal: many parts of the world are already feeling the drastic consequences of climate change in the form of global warming, storms, forest fires and floods, while other regions have (so far) remained largely unscathed. How can we respond to this unprecedented intergenerational dilemma, where the billions of people who will one day bear the consequences of our current actions cannot raise their voices because they have not even been born yet, while those who make far-reaching decisions in the present will in many cases not even experience the dramatic consequences themselves? We discuss these questions and others with New Zealand Member of Parliament Chlöe Swarbrick, Indian climate researcher Navroz K. Dubash and Tobias Reuss, sustainability expert at Volkswagen, Germany.

Host: Katarzyna Wielga-Skolimowska, Goethe-Institut