UN scientists have unveiled a plan that they believe can limit the root causes of dangerous climate change.
A key UN body says in a report that there must be “rapid, deep and immediate” cuts in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Global emissions of CO2 would need to peak within three years to stave off the worst impacts.
At 3,675 pages, The IPCC Working Group III Sixth Assessment Report, approved by 195 member governments of the IPCC, is a comprehensive report.
The report had some bad news to start with, climate change is nearing a point of no return, and global emissions must peak by 2025 for the chance to limit temperature increases to the 1.5C goal set out in the Paris Agreement. Global emissions must then fall by 43 percent by 2030, as well as a reduction in methane emissions of around 33 percent, from 2019 levels.
“Rapid, deep, and immediate” cuts to global carbon dioxide emissions, which need to begin declining by 2025 and halve by 2030, must be made immediately across every section of society if temperature changes are to remain at or below the dangerous threshold of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius), according to a new report by the UN’s latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The report, which assesses the mitigation strategies available to combat climate change, says that even if all the carbon-cutting policies previously promised by governments had been fully implemented by 2020, the world would still warm by a disastrous 5.8 F (3.2 C).
It’s crunch time in our fight against climate change. If we act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we can keep our planet safe for future generations. That’s the message of hope contained in a major scientific report released by the United Nations’ chief climate science organization on Monday.
On the flip side, if we don’t act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors, we will fail to limit global warming to the critical temperature change of 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC. Right now, the necessary actions aren’t being taken, said the report, which UN Secretary-General António Guterres described as “a litany of broken climate promises” and “a file of shame.”
“We are on a fast track to climate disaster,” he said during a press conference, pointing to the terrifying storms, widespread water shortages, and extinction of millions of species of plants and animals that will result from us refusing to change our ways. “This is not fiction or exaggeration, it is what science tells us we will result from our current energy policies.”
Intense disagreements between scientists and governments over the contents of the summary quashed hopes of completion by Friday (April 1), turning the final stages of the session into a 48-hour weekend slog to wrap up the report.
The most contentious wranglings were over how much funding the report recommends be given to developing countries; the role of carbon capture technology in meeting the crisis; and the future usage of fossil fuels.
IPPC reports typically take six to seven years to complete, meaning that this report is likely the UN body’s final warning before irreversible climate breakdown — which scientists say will include the total collapse of most of Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets; extreme heat waves; severe droughts; water stress; and extreme weather across large parts of the globe — becomes unavoidable.
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