According to the latest report from the United Nations, humans have unequivocally caused climate change, and we need to take immediate action to keep the entire planet livable.
The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was signed by 195 governments in Interlaken, Switzerland and is the final word on the state of the climate now, and what it could be in years to come. It culminates eight years of work by hundreds of scientists and reiterates many things we already know, providing an urgent road map for policy-makers to follow to avoid climate catastrophe.
Here are five key takeaways:
Climate change is here, now
Climate change threatens human well-being and planetary health. Fossil fuels from humans are warming the planet, and the results of that are being felt now, in every region on Earth, and are only expected to intensify as emissions drive global temperatures higher.
The next decade matters a lot
Since the last Ice Age ended nearly 12,000 years ago and human civilizations developed, the Earth’s long-term average global air temperature has never varied by more than 1.5 degrees above a stable 14 degrees Celsius, scientists say.
More than a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unequal and unsustainable use of energy and land led to global warming of 1.1°C above pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels. The global average is expected to pass the 1.5 degree warming mark by the mid-2030s, no matter what humans do.
With every degree the world gets warmer, the negative consequences intensify: heatwaves; heavier rainfall; and resulting food and water insecurity. Our ability to slow or reverse the effects of climate change and adapt to them will be hindered.
Billions on earth are vulnerable
Nearly half the world’s population lives in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change, even though the people in those areas are the least responsible for climate change. In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions.
Parts of Africa, Asia, Central and South America, small islands, the Arctic and low-income countries with severe structural impediments to sustainable development are the most affected by climate change.
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An urgent system-wide approach is necessary – and more effective
A system-wide approach is required to manage climate change. Tried and tested policy measures need to be scaled up and applied more widely to achieve the emissions reductions needed for climate resilience. Effective and equitable climate action requires co-ordinated policies, international co-operation, political will, inclusive governance and ecosystem stewardship.
Emissions need to be cut sharply and quickly. Global greenhouse gasses need to be cut in half by 2030 if we want to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.
Future emissions scenarios
Gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions per year
With implemented policies to date (with 50% likelihood and 90% likelihood ranges)
If warming held to 2°C (with 67% likelihood range)
If warming held to 1.5°C with limited overshoot (with 50% likelihood range)
80
60
40
Past
emissions
20
Net-zero
0
-20
2000
2020
2040
2060
2080
2100
SOURCE: INTERGOVERNMENTAL
PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Future emissions scenarios
Gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions per year
With implemented policies to date
(with 50% likelihood and 90% likelihood ranges)
If warming held to 2°C (with 67% likelihood range)
If warming held to 1.5°C with limited overshoot (with 50% likelihood range)
80
60
40
Past
emissions
20
Net-zero
0
-20
2000
2020
2040
2060
2080
2100
SOURCE: INTERGOVERNMENTAL
PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Future emissions scenarios
Gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions per year
80
With implemented policies to date (with 50% likelihood and 90% likelihood ranges)
60
40
If warming held to 2°C
(with 67% likelihood range)
Past emissions
20
If warming held to 1.5°C with limited overshoot
(with 50% likelihood range)
Net-zero
0
-20
2000
2020
2040
2060
2080
2100
2010
2030
2050
2070
2090
SOURCE: INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
The benefits of fighting climate change go beyond lowering the Earth’s average temperature. When people have access to clean energy technologies, their health improves. Low-carbon options such as walking, cycling, taking public transit and using low-carbon electrification improve air quality, health and employment opportunities.
Current climate investments need to increase at least threefold, though there is enough financing available to rapidly reduce emissions, with low-income countries in need of financial support from wealthier countries. If suitable policy measures are shared, and adequate finance is made available now, every community can reduce or avoid carbon-intensive consumption.
Reduce barriers, accelerate climate-helping technologies
“Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits,” said IPCC chair Hoesung Lee in a press release about the report. Making it easier to invest in energy transition and accelerating the use of technology that can contribute to those changes is necessary.
With files from Ivan Semeniuk, Wendy Stueck, Reuters