> Whereas if rich countries take the problem seriously, add carbon taxes and tariffs and whatever other measures needed, they have moral, economic, legal, and even military levers against those who don't sign on.

I think we're on the same page here. So an agreement between the USA and China would be an example of a great start, to get the rest of the world to follow suit. Let's frame the problem like that.

Realistically this is not going to happen in time to make serious global change by 2030. So in the mean time, we're also going to need real talk about the specific effects of climate change, and how to adapt and mitigate as much as we can.

We will be dealing with a global catastrophe, full stop. Pretending that isn't so isn't going to help the hundreds of millions of people now living near the margins of survival that will be tipped in the near future. Neither is framing the whole thing as a "choice" between the impossible and the inevitable.

The fate of our great-great grandchildren is very much at stake though.