Thread by @MaxCRoser

The IPCC climate reports rely on scenarios of how the world will change in the coming decades.

This is the IPCC's description of the 'Sustainability Scenario'.

What does the IPCC assume for economic growth here?
Global GDP per capita increases to over $80,000 per person.

Better health and education, an 'emphasis on human well-being', and lower resource and energy intensity –– the future described in that scenario sounds like a future that I'd like to help achieve.

At the same time that scenario is the most optimistic about global CO2 emissions.

This scenario (SSP1) is also a future in which deforestation comes to an end – and instead we see substantial reforestation and much more space for the wildlife on our planet.

[this paper on the SSPs is very helpful
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…]

A global GDP of $80,000 per capita (adjusted for inflation and in today's prices) is extraordinarily high.

This is higher than the average income in the world's richest economies – higher than Germany, the US, or Switzerland – today.

The scenario is one in which "inequality is reduced both across and within countries" so that the high average GDP per capita would mean less poverty in the world.

Taken together, this is a future with much less global poverty and a healthier environment around us.

That's the future I'd like to work towards.