Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have been at record levels unseen in over 800,000 years, recent data have shown. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has highlighted the urgency to undertake stricter measures in order to address climate change, one of the most challenging issues that the international community need to face. However, according to the world’s top climate scientists, the current framework offers some good reasons to be hopeful that humans will rise to the challenge of climate change. Firstly, experts stress the importance of the US trend in relation to environmental policy. Barack Obama has pursued a policy of environmental protection, establishing emissions caps on coal power stations in order to fight climate change related issues. Moreover, after the launch of Obama’s crackdown on coal, Chinese government climate advisor has announced that the government will establish new measures to control CO2 emissions in the next five-year plan. This announcement represents a breakthrough, as was the first time that the Chinese government takes on a serious commitment in order to overcome the consequences of climate change. China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon: due to the high level of pollution, the Chinese government has ordered a mass closure of coal plants within a few years. Environmental groups has welcomed this program, suggesting that strengthening these measures could bring Chinese emissions close to the level the International Energy Agency affirms are needed to avoid more than 2C warming. Additionally, thanks to the decrease of technology prices, innovation and significant governmental initiatives renewable energies have taken an increasing share of global electricity generation. After the stall of the early part of last decade, the increase of renewables is now relentless, attracting more and more investments in this field. Studies show that in 2013 investors have contributed $268.2 billion to renewable projects, 5 times more than in 2004. As another positive signal, estimates outline that since 2011 electric car sales have doubled every year. Consumer acceptance of the technology is on an exponential growth curve: experts argue that we will see more than one million of these kind of vehicles driven across the world by the end of 2015. The gLAWcal Team EPSEI project Wednesday, 30 July 2014 (Source: The Guardian)