The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that there are “multiple, feasible and effective options” currently available to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change.
In its latest report published today (Monday, March 20), scientists from the United Nations (UN) body for assessing the science related to climate change called on governments to take urgent action to “secure a liveable future for all”.
The synthesis report, which evaluates six major reports issued since 2018, said that the current pace and scale of climate action are insufficient to tackle climate change and that accelerated action is required.
The scientists said that accelerated climate action will only come about if there is a many-fold increase in finance, adding that insufficient and misaligned finance is holding back progress.
Global warming
The document states that losses and damages as a result of climate change are already being experienced and will continue into the future, hitting the world’s most vulnerable people and ecosystems hardest.
The report states that people are already dying from extreme heat in every region, while climate-driven food and water insecurity is expected to increase with increased warming.
The scientists said that the burning of fossil fuels along with “unsustainable energy and land use” has led to global warming of 1.1° above pre-industrial levels.
This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impacts on nature and people in every region of the world.
IPCC
In 2018, the IPCC highlighted the unprecedented scale of the challenge required to keep warming to 1.5°.
Five years later, that challenge has become even greater due to a continued increase in GHG emissions.
The report said that keeping warming to 1.5° above pre-industrial levels requires “deep, rapid and sustained” emissions reductions in all sectors.
“Emissions should be decreasing by now and will need to be cut by almost half by 2030, if warming is to be limited to 1.5°,” it said.
The scientists said that taking the right action now could result “in the transformational change essential for a sustainable, equitable world”,” the scientists said”.
Chair of IPCC, Hoesung Lee said that mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits.
Aditi Mukherji, one of the authors of the report, added: “Climate justice is crucial because those who have contributed least to climate change are being disproportionately affected.
“Almost half of the world’s population lives in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change.
“In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions,” she said.
The report outlines that changes in the food sector, electricity, transport, industry, buildings and land-use can reduce GHG emissions.
Solution
The IPCC scientists said that the solution lies in “climate resilient development” including access to clean energy and technologies.
The report said that low-carbon electrification, walking, cycling and public transport enhance air quality, improve health, employment opportunities and deliver equity.
There are “tried and tested policy measures that can work to achieve deep emissions reductions and climate resilience if they are scaled up and applied more widely”, the scientists said.
This will require increased finance, political commitment and coordinated polices.
Responding to the report, UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres warned that “the climate time-bomb is ticking”.
However, he said the report shows that we have the knowledge and resources to tackle the climate crisis.