This opinion article argues that current climate change strategies seem increasingly incapable of averting planetary catastrophe.

It argues that while the United Nations (UN) strategy places responsibility for CO2 reduction on governments, governments by nature seek lower burdens and pledges fail to produce the necessary results for achievement of any identified climate target. It states that climate financing holds little hope due to the likelihood of “dire fiscal circumstances” persisting for decades to come. The author argues that the most cost-effective plan is to put a global price on carbon, which can be accomplished by creating a global upstream carbon market. In such a market system, a limited amount of allowances would be sold to polluters. It is argued that it would achieve the target most cost-effectively, raise new revenue from the sales of allowances which would help vulnerable countries in their energy transition and low-carbon sustainable growth.