At a New York event marking 20 years since An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore said public opinion is nearing a “positive tipping point” despite stronger-than-expected fossil fuel resistance. He said the question is whether progress will come in time to avert climate tipping points.
Gore said scientists’ warnings had been borne out and that fossil fuel interests had too much influence over governments and the UN’s climate science work. Citing Guardian reporting, he said Saudi oil operatives were involved in drafting prominent UN climate reports. The Climate Reality Project he launched after the film has a network of 4.5 million people across 196 countries.
Rapid clean-energy deployment has made earlier projections of warming of 4°C or more by the end of the century unlikely, although the world is still heading toward warming above 2°C compared with pre-industrial levels. Gore said many developing countries still lack adequate financing for renewable energy and battery projects. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for tripling renewable adoption, reducing deforestation and electrifying economies.
