World Scientists' Call for Action at the Kyoto Climate Summit

The World Scientists' Call for Action, signed by 1,586 scientists including 110 Nobel laureates, demands that the 1997 Kyoto Climate Summit result in a strong treaty with legally binding emission reductions for industrial nations. The signatories warn that human-induced global warming threatens sea levels, human health, and food security, while exacerbating existing environmental crises such as deforestation and species loss. They emphasize that the developing world is particularly vulnerable and call for a transition to renewable energy and a new commitment to global environmental stewardship.

• As of October 14, 1997, the Call for Action was signed by 1,586 scientists from 63 countries, including 110 Nobel laureates (104 of the 178 living science winners) and 60 US National Medal of Science winners.
• The scientific community urges leaders to strengthen the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change by implementing legally binding commitments for industrial nations to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases significantly below 1990 levels, with developing nations eventually engaging in emission limits.
• Climatologists have reached a broad consensus that human activity has a discernible influence on the global climate, which is projected to cause rising sea levels, more intense rainfall, floods, droughts, and the spread of tropical diseases to higher latitudes.
• Climate change is expected to worsen existing environmental and humanitarian crises, including the destruction of tropical forests (such as the Amazon), the acceleration of species extinction, and food insecurity, particularly in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The transition to non-fossil-carbon-based renewable energy is technically feasible but is currently stalled by a lack of political will, low energy costs, and incentives that encourage waste.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (1997). World Scientists' Call for Action at the Kyoto Climate Summit. https://www.ucs.org/resources/world-scientists-call-action-kyoto-climate-summit

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. World Scientists' Call for Action at the Kyoto Climate Summit. 1997. https://www.ucs.org/resources/world-scientists-call-action-kyoto-climate-summit.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=World Scientists' Call for Action at the Kyoto Climate Summit |date=7 August 1997 |url=https://www.ucs.org/resources/world-scientists-call-action-kyoto-climate-summit |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{unionofconcernedscientists1997world, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{World Scientists' Call for Action at the Kyoto Climate Summit}}, publisher = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {1997}, month = aug, url = {https://www.ucs.org/resources/world-scientists-call-action-kyoto-climate-summit}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }