One of the world’s most renowned economists and a leading expert on sustainable development, Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University, said today at the Horizons Forum in Belgrade that the global situation regarding climate change and global warming is alarming.
He also stated that Serbia has made the right choice by embracing connectivity and cooperation with Chinese companies despite criticism from Western countries.
Speaking on the panel “Green (R)evolution: Empowering Tomorrow” at the Sava Centre, Sachs emphasised that global warming is likely to exceed 2 degrees Celsius within the next 20 years, given that the planet has already reached approximately 1.5 degrees of warming.
Sachs argued that Europe and the West are not fully aware of the seriousness of the situation, which requires urgent action. By contrast, he highlighted China’s strength in long-term planning. He noted that only a handful of countries around the world engage in such strategic planning and added that East Asia generally plans far more effectively than Europe and the United States, which, he said, merely wait for former US President Donald Trump’s social media posts.
“Time is extremely short. Serbia is absolutely right to embrace connectivity as a solution and to welcome leading Chinese companies, even when the European Union says, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ and Americans ask, ‘You’re talking to the Chinese? How dare you?’ That approach will never succeed,” Sachs said.
He stressed that connectivity, good relations, peace and serious planning are exactly what the world needs in the current circumstances.
Greenhouse gases remain the greatest challenge
Sachs said that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases represent the greatest challenge facing humanity.
“Of CO₂ emissions, perhaps 85% come from the use of oil, coal and gas for energy, while around 15% stem from industrial uses, particularly hydrocarbons and coal. We therefore need a wide range of technologies. The situation is now more urgent than it was in 1992.
“We must not only stop emissions from increasing; we must come close to achieving net-zero emissions, or even negative emissions. CO₂ remains in the atmosphere for centuries. As long as emissions continue, concentrations will keep rising. We therefore need to reach essentially zero, or even net-negative, emissions,” Sachs explained.
He described it as shocking that the world has already reached approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, which was the threshold the international community sought to remain below under the Paris Climate Agreement.
“One crucial thing to understand is that warming has accelerated. Scientists are debating why, but I believe the best explanation is that the climate is even more sensitive to these emissions than earlier models suggested.
“We are now warming at a rate of more than 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade. If we are currently at 1.5 degrees, we will be at 1.8 degrees within ten years, and warming will exceed 2 degrees within 20 years. This is extremely alarming because the consequences could be quite shocking for the world. Many things could go seriously wrong at that level of warming,” he said.
Rising sea levels and political inaction
According to Sachs, major ice sheets could collapse, causing sea levels to rise by several metres rather than merely centimetres. If this process is not halted, Europe and the rest of the world will face severe climate consequences.
“Most politicians around the world simply do not understand this and do not know how to deal with it. And I will say that the United States is objectively the worst case among 193 countries. We have withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement and from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is not a joke,” Sachs said.
He stressed that the first step must be proper planning.
“The United States does not plan at all. We simply sit on the edge of our seats waiting for Trump’s next post on Truth Social. The deeper you look into the US government, the less planning you find. It is genuinely shocking.
“Planning comes first. The second equally difficult task today is cooperation with neighbours because energy systems must be shared,” he added.
Sachs noted that Serbia cannot build a clean energy network on its own and needs to be connected not only with the Balkans but also with the Middle East, North Africa and the European Union.
Innovation and energy transition
Participants in the panel highlighted that rapid advances in innovation, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, energy storage, electric mobility and new industrial processes are transforming the foundations of the global economy and require swift adaptation.
They also pointed to the enormous challenges involved in financing the energy transition, ensuring fair access to energy and aligning development with sustainability goals.
China, participants noted, is also rapidly advancing its space programme, which could create new opportunities for energy development. The goal is to integrate all energy systems by 2035 so that they can be utilised collectively.
About the Horizons Forum
The first Horizons Forum is being held in Belgrade and has brought together around 500 participants and more than 20 experts from the fields of economics, technology, energy and artificial intelligence.
The event focuses on global economic trends, international relations and contemporary political and institutional challenges.
Among the prominent participants are Chinese AI pioneer Kai-Fu Lee, David Gorodzansky, and economist Branko Milanović, a leading authority on global inequality and economic trends.
The forum is organised by the Centre for International Relations and Sustainable Development and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia with the aim of fostering dialogue on key global economic and technological trends, sustainable development and geopolitical change. The event began on 18 June in Belgrade.
(NIN, 19.06.2026)