Which side of history will you choose to be on?

I’ve just returned from Dubai, where the UN Climate Change Conference, COP28, is entering its final, tense moments. At present, the COP28 draft text remains insufficient. Those who are blocking a phase-out of fossil fuels are failing people and the planet.

History will be written in the hours to come. Years from now, will we tell the story of world leaders coming together in courage to avert climate catastrophe? Or will politicians succumb to increasingly hollow “business as usual” seductions and shrink from their responsibility to future generations?

These questions don’t yet have answers, but we can help ensure it is the former rather than the latter. That’s why, together with our partners at Global Optimism and many more, The B Team showed up in Dubai to catalyze courage and advocate for greater ambition and urgency from the COP28 presidency and all Parties. We’ve engaged in radical collaboration like never before. I’m sincerely proud to stand in solidarity with an amazing collective of leaders who choose courage over conformity at this critical time.

On day one in Dubai, following a major breakthrough on the creation of a “loss and damage” fund to compensate climate vulnerable countries, hope was in the air. The energy outside the negotiation halls was electric and optimism was rising. Don’t get me wrong: apprehension and distrust persists. Developed nations, for instance, have thus far pledged a pittance to the aforementioned loss and damage fund. Still, I believe to my core that a more optimistic trajectory is essential to delivering ambitious outcomes.

We must work together to ensure positive results. Your wellbeing and mine, the wellbeing of our children, of people and communities around the world, of life on Earth, is at stake. All of us must act now to keep average global temperature rise below 1.5°C — the threshold beyond which the most catastrophic impacts of climate change become unavoidable.

Later is too late.

“Some people don't believe the raft is leaking,”

says Ingka Group (IKEA) CEO and B Team chair Jesper Brodin, “even though our feet are wet.”

The science is abundantly clear — and has been for some time. “From the planet’s perspective, 1.5°C is a tangible limit. It is not simply a choice,” warns Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Breaching 1.5°C would mean that “two billion people will live in areas...beyond the human limit.”

Thankfully, a wave of courage is rising. I'm proud to join more than 2,000 leaders from all sectors of society and corners of the globe, calling on world leaders to redouble their commitment to keeping 1.5°C within reach.

Over 2,000 leaders agree that it’s time to be bold on behalf of our shared home and shared future. When scientists, business executives, indigenous peoples, mayors, youth leaders, members of clergy, investors, philanthropists and Jane Goodall unite and agree on what must be done, governments ought to listen!

We are calling for a just and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels in line with the best available science. To accelerate this transition, we urge the international community to co-create an enabling environment for rapidly scaling up public and private climate finance, with developed countries taking the lead in action and support. We must triple investments in renewable energy (at least) and, once and for all, put a price on carbon.

I invite you to sign the letter, share it with your governments and amplify key messages through social media. Now is not a time to sit on the sidelines. History has its eyes on each and every one of us.

We understand the demands on the global economy; what we are advocating is challenging and unprecedented. But it is worth it because the future means everything. The difficulty of the task should not dissuade our pursuit, nor should we ignore the boundless opportunities of the energy transformation.

We believe the solutions are there, and so is the money. What’s missing is courageous leadership and brave, collective action. Let’s create unstoppable momentum and optimism to deliver the world we need.

With just hours to go, which side of history will you choose to be on?