Introduction

Abstract

In 1903, A.R. Wallace (Charles Darwin’s co-discoverer of evolution) identified that the coal smog and pollution produced by large industrialised cities represented a grave threat to the health of the inhabitants. On the inside cover of this thesis I have reprinted his exhortation for political leadership to do something about it. Our response as a society was such that, 100 years later, air pollution is no longer a major problem in most modern cities (although it remains a problem in less developed nations lacking the technology to deal with it). His exhortation is still equally relevant today, however, because humanity now faces a new threat, still related to the burning of coal which Wallace railed against over a century ago. This threat is not limited to the inhabitants of one smoggy city, but could well affect all life, human and not, on the planet.

A technology push approach, based on large-scale research and technology deployment programmes and new breakthrough technologies, is needed to achieve deeper GHG cuts in the long run (2050 and beyond). Global Environmental Outlook 4 United Nations Environment Programme