I don’t think it’s a paper tiger. It’s something that will cause more and more irrevocable damage the longer it goes unchecked, but it’s also not something that’s impossible to recover from.
Looking at what China is doing to mitigate climate change gives me hope. I think we grossly underestimate what a world lead by governments that have their shit together (or that can accept help from ones that do without worrying about being couped by the US for doing so) is capable of.