One giant leap for mankind: A beautiful, peaceful revolution on the outskirts of Paris

On Saturday, the world witnessed something that nothing else in human history comes close to, in terms of scale and stakes. The signing of an “ambitious and balanced” global climate deal marked a resounding victory for French diplomacy.

Did that final agreement tick ALL of the boxes? No. Was the Paris summit an overall success? Absolutely.

In addition to the eventual deal that was reached, almost every single day of the talks was headlined by a major, industry-led announcement that could, in its own way, ignite a step-change in low-carbon investment that we all know is so urgently required.

But COP21 is just the beginning. Only the kind of international, publically-funded research and development effort that helped put a man on the moon will allow for the promise of Paris to be realised.

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