UN scientists on Monday delivered a stark warning about the impact of climate change on people and the planet, saying that ecosystem collapse, species extinction, deadly heatwaves and floods are among the "dangerous and widespread disruptions” the world will face over the next two decades due to global warming.
“This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
“It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet. Our actions today will shape how people adapt and nature responds to increasing climate risks,” he said, adding: “Half measures are no longer an option.”
According to the report, human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting billions of lives all over the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks, with people and ecosystems least able to cope being hardest hit.
This is the second in a series of three reports from the the UN’s top climate scientists and its launch comes just over 100 days since the UN climate action summit in Glasgow, COP26, agreed to step up action to limit global warming to 1.5°C and stave off the worst effects of climate change.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the first report, issued last August, a “code red for humanity”, and said that “If we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe.”
His take on the latest report is equally stark: he laments that the evidence detailed by IPCC is unlike anything he has ever seen, calling it an “atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.”
With fact upon fact, this report, which focuses on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, reveals how people, and the planet, are getting “clobbered” by climate change.
“Nearly half of humanity is living in the danger zone – now. Many ecosystems are at the point of no return – now. Unchecked carbon pollution is forcing the world’s most vulnerable on a frog march to destruction – now,” he declared.
Coal is one of the big drivers of carbon emissions.Unsplash/Markus Spiske
Coal is one of the big drivers of carbon emissions.
Mr. Guterres said the world’s biggest polluters are guilty of arson of our only home.
In the face of such dire evidence, it is essential to meet the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, and the science shows that will require the world to cut emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
“But according to current commitments, global emissions are set to increase almost 14 per cent over the current decade. That spells catastrophe. It will destroy any chance of keeping 1.5 alive,” said the UN chief.
One of the report’s core truths is that coal and other fossil fuels are choking humanity, the Secretary-General explained, calling on all G20 governments to live up to their agreements to stop funding coal abroad, and the must now urgently do the same at home and dismantle their coal fleets.
Moreover, he said that oil and gas giants – and their underwriters – are also on notice. “You cannot claim to be green while your plans and projects undermine the 2050 net-zero target and ignore the major emissions cuts that must occur this decade. People see through this smokescreen.”
Instead of slowing down the decarbonization of the global economy, now is the time to accelerate the energy transition to a renewable energy future, he said declaring fossil fuels a "dead end for our planet, for humanity, and yes, for economies," and calling for developed countries, Multilateral Development Banks, private financiers and others to form coalitions to help major emerging economies end the use of coal.
The second core finding from he IPCC report is slightly better news: investments in adaptation work.
“As climate impacts worsen – and they will – scaling up investments will be essential for survival. Adaptation and mitigation must be pursued with equal force and urgency. That’s why I have been pushing to get to 50 per cent of all climate finance for adaptation,” Mr. Guterres explained.
Noting that the Glasgow commitment on adaptation funding is clearly not enough to meet the challenges faced by nations on the frontlines of the climate crisis he said that he is also pressing to remove the obstacles that prevent small island states and least developed countries from getting the finance they desperately need to save lives and livelihoods.
“We need new eligibility systems to deal with this new reality. Delay means death,” he said.
March 04, 2022 at 15:33