Action on climate change needs to speed up, scientists have warned in the United Nations’ latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
The Synthesis Report issues the starkest warning yet about climate change. Keeping warming to the target of 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels requires deep, rapid and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors. Emissions should be decreasing by now and will need to be cut almost in half by 2030 if this target is going to be met. However, the report emphasises that the pace and scale of what has been done so far, and current plans, are insufficient to tackle climate change.
More than a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unequal and unsustainable energy and land use has led to global warming of 1.1oC above pre-industrial levels. This has resulted in more frequent and intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impacts on nature and people in every region of the world.
The answer, the IPCC sets out, lies in climate resilient development. This will involve integrating measures to adapt to climate change with actions to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in ways that provide wider benefits. For instance, cleaner energy improves health, encouraging walking, cycling and the use of public transport enhances air quality. However, climate resilient development becomes more difficult with each increment of warming. For this reason, scientists stress that the choices made in the next few years will play a critical role in deciding our future, and that of generations to come.
There is sufficient global capital to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions if existing barriers are reduced. Increasing finance to climate investments is important to achieve global climate goals. Governments, through public funding and clear signals to investors, are key in reducing these barriers.
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. Political commitment, coordinated policies, international cooperation, ecosystem stewardship and inclusive governance are all important for effective and equitable climate action.
If technology, know-how and suitable policy measures are shared, and adequate finance is made available now, every community can reduce or avoid carbon-intensive consumption.
