Al Gore is optimistic about our climate future

Al Gore is optimistic about our climate future | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Former US Vice President Al Gore is known to many as the Paul Revere of climate change, alerting the world to the dangers of a warming planet and other "inconvenient truths" at a time when only 2/5 Americans were onboard with his message. It earned him a Nobel Peace Prize.

But today, Al Gore has good news to share. In a wide-ranging interview with Ian Bremmer on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Gore is clear-eyed but optimistic about our climate future.

"If we get to true net zero and stop incrementally adding to the amount of heat-trapping gas that's there, the temperatures will stop going up almost immediately with a lag of as little as three to five years. Now, that's new science. It's well-confirmed now. They used to believe that it would keep going even after we reach net zero, but no, it will not. The even better news is that if we stay at true net zero, then half of all the human-caused CO2 and methane will fall out of the atmosphere in as little as a quarter of a century."

Watch the full GZERO World episode: Al Gore on US elections & climate change
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week at http://gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld or on US public television. Check local listings.

More from GZERO Media

US President Donald Trump pardons a turkey at the annual White House Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon in the Rose Garden in Washington, D.C., USA, on Nov. 25, 2025.
Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto

Although not all of our global readers celebrate Thanksgiving, it’s still good to remind ourselves that while the world offers plenty of fodder for doomscrolling and despair, there are still lots of things to be grateful for too.

Marine Le Pen, French member of parliament and parliamentary leader of the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party and Jordan Bardella, president of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party and member of the European Parliament, gesture during an RN political rally in Bordeaux, France, September 14, 2025.
REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Army Chief Asim Munir holds a microphone during his visit at the Tilla Field Firing Ranges (TFFR) to witness the Exercise Hammer Strike, a high-intensity field training exercise conducted by the Pakistan Army's Mangla Strike Corps, in Mangla, Pakistan, on May 1, 2025.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)/Handout via REUTERS

Field Marshal Asim Munir, the country’s de facto leader, consolidated his power after the National Assembly rammed through a controversial constitutional amendment this month that grants him lifelong immunity from any legal prosecution.