With the global climate talks in Lima, Peru halfway done, climate observers are watching with baited breath to see how far countries get to hammering out a draft agreement that can be formalized next year in Paris. However, there are lots of steps being taken to address greenhouse gas emissions at the personal, local and business levels.

“At every level—individuals, families, cities, states, provinces, even multinational corporations—efforts to cut CO2 are underway… These are still small steps, and so far inadequate to the scale of the challenge ahead, which involves reaching zero pollution before the end of the 21st century. But these are first steps and they are coming at a quickening pace, which suggest a possible future free of catastrophic climate change. More and faster should be the new slogan for action to address global warming. How much more and how much faster should be the only issue for negotiation. When assessing the news from Lima, keep in mind that the international process does not encompass all the progress made to combat climate change to date.” – David Biello, associate editor for environment and energy at Scientific American, writing in the Sciam Observations Blog