Commentary in 2014

Reflection on the rapidly growing field of ocean acidification research highlights priorities for future research on the changing ocean.

The chinese carbon market is up and running, but private finance has not been fully utilized. Finance-friendly policies are needed to help the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitter to harness market forces for climate change mitigation.

Climate change is full of uncertainty and the messengers of climate science are not getting the uncertainty narrative right. To communicate uncertainty one must first understand it, and then avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

A sustainable global ocean observation system requires timely implementation of the framework for ocean observing. The recent Qingdao Global Ocean Summit highlighted the need for a more coherent institutional response to maintain an integrated ocean-observing system.

Focusing on policies and effort costs rather than emissions may facilitate climate negotiations and improve the chances of reaching a successful agreement. The effort costs of a country comprise investments in low-carbon technologies, in addition to direct mitigation costs.

The impacts of extreme events are triggering action and reaction — sometimes in unexpected ways. Confronted by 'adaptation emergencies', the private sector is rapidly innovating climate risk management, but governments must also fulfil their responsibilities.

The climate movement is failing to engage a diverse set of stakeholders in efforts to address climate change, and a lack of diversity within the climate community itself may be, in part, to blame. Research-informed solutions are urgently needed to address the problem and help build a more inclusive and influential movement.

Climate models have increased in complexity over time as more processes have been included. Now we need to return to the underpinning basics in the models and ensure they are the best they can be.

Recent studies show that current IUCN Red List assessment methods can identify species vulnerable to extinction because of climate change. But species must be assessed more completely and more regularly, and adaptation actions initiated swiftly once threatened species are identified.

The definition of baselines is a major step in determining the greenhouse-gas emissions of bioenergy systems. Accounting frameworks with a planning objective might require different baseline attributes and designs than those with a monitoring objective.

Policymakers are creating mechanisms to help developing countries cope with loss and damage from climate change, but the negotiations are largely neglecting scientific questions about what the impacts of climate change actually are.

Institutions need to adapt to ensure coequal social and biophysical global change science.

China should take more active participation in a prospective agreement on the global phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons.

The China–Russia gas deal will play an important role in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollution in China.

Groundwater depletion the world over poses a far greater threat to global water security than is currently acknowledged.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports provide the most reliable and robust assessment of understanding of the climate system. However, they do not include practitioner-based evidence, which is fundamental to make the reports a relevant source of information for decision-making.

For the first time since the failed 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, momentum is building towards a new climate agreement. But expectations must be kept in check, and making expert advice more useful to the process will require engaging the social sciences more fully.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage could be used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, its credibility as a climate change mitigation option is unproven and its widespread deployment in climate stabilization scenarios might become a dangerous distraction.

Raising basic living standards and growing affluence aren't equivalent, and neither are their respective climate impacts.

Climate policy has gained focus with the adoption of the 2 °C target, but action to avoid dangerous climate change has not occurred as expected. It is time to reconsider the target, and most importantly, the relationship between climate science and policy.