15 January 2009: In the foreword to the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World report 2009, which focuses on climate change and is sub-titled “Into a Warming World,” the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Pachauri, notes that the contents of the volume are based on the findings of the Panel’s Fourth Assessment Report 2007.

Pachauri underlines that the State of the World 2009 brings out clearly the difference between inaction based on a business-as-usual approach and action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. In his view, the report’s strongest message is that “if the world does not take action early and in adequate measure, the impacts of climate change could prove extremely harmful and overwhelm our capacity to adapt.” Pachauri also highlights that the publication comes at a time when governments are negotiating a new agreement to be finalized in Copenhagen in December 2009 and that the report will influence negotiators to look beyond the narrow and short-term concerns. [The Foreword]