The 'most important misconception' about climate change: environmentalist Fred Krupp

Americans’ concern over the environment remains near a two-decade high. Over 40% of Americans surveyed worry "a great deal" about climate change, according to a recent poll conducted by Gallup.

But they should not despair, says Fred Krupp, the president of the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental advocacy non-profit.

“The idea that it's hopeless is the most important misconception,” said Krupp when speaking about climate change during a recent episode of "Influencers with Andy Serwer." “The whole world has to get on board in order to solve it, including China and India and the European Union and the US. Those are the four biggest emitting geographies. But it's not hopeless.”

Though these three countries and the EU play a disproportionate role in exacerbating climate change, they’re also attempting to curtail emissions. For instance, China has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2060. India, in turn, has recently pledged to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33% to 35% by 2030 from levels in 2005 and draw 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

The United States recently passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark piece of environmental legislation. The bill will commit roughly $375 billion to fighting climate change over the next decade and should deliver a 41% reduction in emissions by 2030, according to an analysis by the Rapid Energy Policy Evaluation and Analysis Toolkit (REPEAT) Project at Princeton University.

“We are seeing real action in China, we've talked about their leadership and electric vehicles. We're seeing real action in Europe now being speeded up by the tragic war in the Ukraine, we're seeing the US take a big step forward with the passage of the IRA,” Krupp said. “And we're seeing India having committed to having 50% of its electricity come from clean sources by 2030.”

Policymakers have several tools at their disposal to fight climate change, Krupp said. For instance, he argued for curbing deforestation, which is responsible for around 20% of emissions, according to the Environmental Defense Fund’s research.

“This is solvable, but sometimes I think about the difference between optimism which is kind of like a prediction, it's all going to be fine,” Krupp reflected. “And hope, which is a verb with its sleeves rolled up. We all need to work at it. And then we can solve it.”

The Environmental Defense Fund, which was founded in 1967, has 1,000 staff members in 19 countries. Fred Krupp has been the president of the non-profit since 1984. He holds a Bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan.

Dylan Croll is a reporter and researcher at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @CrollonPatrol.

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