“Highest Possible Ambition” — a Climate Call to Action
Anyone familiar with the Paris Agreement will know the phrase “highest possible ambition.”
Article 4 of the Paris Agreement outlines the duty of governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, and calls on all such governments to implement policies that reflect their “highest possible ambition.”
Countries with more financial and technical capacity, and which have contributed more to the crisis, have greater responsibilities and obligations to address the problem.
The phrase “highest possible ambition” is interesting to me. It is evocative — more a call to action, or even ethical precept, than an enforceable legal standard.
Governments today are struggling to meet this standard. And there is now resistance in the US and Europe by some political parties to fully and finally implement a just transition off of fossil fuels.
“Highest possible ambition” as a personal call to action
I have started to interpret “highest possible ambition” as a personal call to action. As a resident of a wealthy Western country, as someone with a law degree, and now participating in a PhD program in international law, I recognize the amount of capacity and privilege I have to help contribute to solutions. I have the means to “do more” than most.
Countries with greater resources and capacity have greater obligations to address climate change. Similarly, I believe that those of us with greater personal privilege have a responsibility to “do more” and to be as ambitious as possible to address the crisis.
Addressing climate change is an intergenerational journey. It will take decades, centuries, or longer, to stop warming, to return to conditions of planetary stability, and to learn how to maintain that stability. Our governments are failing to maintain a habitable planet. New ways are needed, including new kinds of politics. This is a time when imagination, courage, and ambition are needed more than ever.
I don’t know what the future holds. But when all is said and done, I would like to look back on my life and know that I gave every effort that I could to this issue, that I fought hard to protect human rights, and that I left some kind of plan for future generations to consider and implement on a planet that will be increasingly treacherous. This is as much as I can do. But perhaps, if enough people think this way, it could be enough—or more than enough—to change our timeline and push the world into a better direction.