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Pictured: Patricia EspinosaBut Marrakech cannot be only about celebration, important as that is. It must be a conference of action and of vision. The Paris Agreement is indeed a fresh beginning but countering climate change; delivering the aims, aspiration and goals of the agreement and aligning achievement with the equally new Sustainable Development Goals are going to require a multi-decadal effort of epic proportions.The reality check here is pollution and temperature. Indeed, the ultimate arbiter of our collective success will be the atmosphere upon which all life on Earth relies.Currently, global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise rather than decline and unless urgent action under the Paris Agreement is taken now and over the years and decades to come, the world may be facing a temperature rise of 3°C or 4°C, or even higher.Many people in many parts of the world have, this year, been already suffering the stress and the impacts of extreme weather as global temperatures continue to break records.According to NASA, each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest respective month globally in the modern temperature record, which dates back to 1880.Meanwhile, five of the first six months of 2016 also set records for the smallest respective monthly Arctic sea ice extent since consistent satellite records began in 1979.The Paris agreement is quite clear on where the defensive line rests – we must keep a global temperature rise well below 2°C this century and even better, pursue efforts to keep the rise no higher than 1.5°C.If this is to happen, the world must peak global emissions very soon and dramatically manage them down over the successive years in order to achieve what is termed climate neutrality in the second half of the century.Climate neutrality means that whatever emissions are left can be easily and safely absorbed by the Earth’s natural infrastructure such as its forests, soils, wetlands and coastal ecosystems like mangroves, salt marshes and sea grasses.It is nothing short of restoring the balance of the planet to what prevailed prior to the Industrial Revolution, but in a 21st Century context of clean and renewable energies, ever higher levels of energy efficiency in homes, factories and transport, and the restoration of natural systems.So how is this revolution in the way we live, work and play to be achieved?It begins in Marrakech at COP22: The Paris Agreement is a major landmark but it needs to become operational, it needs an operating system or what some term ‘a rule book’.FOREWORD 013