It is a now or never. The latest IPCC report is clear on the urgency of the actions needed to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The goals are challenging, but scientists maintain hope.
There is one goal that is still possible, but is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve: to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial revolution levels by 2030. For this to be possible, the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) make it clear: We need to increase climate action plans and cut emissions by about half.
“Humanity is walking on thin ice – and that ice is melting fast,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. In a cinematic reference, he adds that the world “needs climate action on all fronts – everything, everywhere, at the same time.”
IPCC scientists released a synthesis report this Monday that summarizes all papers published between 2018 and 2023, with topics ranging from soils to oceans to the effects of global warming. The result leads scientists to call for immediate action. “Emissions should already be reducing and will need to be cut by about half by 2030 if we are to limit warming to 1.5 degrees,” the report reads. The panel concludes that greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 43 percent by 2030, compared to 2019 figures.
The report makes a point of exposing the devastation that has already hit part of the planet. There is an increase in deaths due to heat waves, floods and droughts. Millions of people are starving and there are increasingly irreversible losses in ecosystems.
The IPCC president also addressed the issue of climate justice, since, as he pointed out, “the countries that have contributed the least to climate change are the most vulnerable,” noting that these countries are at least 50 times more exposed to floods and storms. “It is necessary to increase funding to protect these countries by at least six times by 2030,” he advises.
“This report highlights the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that if we act now, we can still ensure a sustainable livable future for all,” says Hoesung Lee, chairman of the IPCC.
The science is clear and reinforces the urgency of action. “Now we need political will, public support to take the actions necessary to make the carbon neutrality goals realistic, and still personal motivation to be on that path. These three elements are necessary for science to be reflected in political decisions. “Now we need political will, public support to take the necessary actions to make the carbon neutrality goals realistic, and still personal motivation to be on that trajectory. These three elements are necessary for science to be reflected in political decisions,” says Heusong Lee.
Soil conservation, water resource management, and more green spaces are some of the examples of ways forward, according to the scientists, but this way forward had to be immediate and done with more funding.
The IPCC analysis shows that it would take three to six times the current level of funding to limit warming to 1.5 or two degrees, across all sectors and regions. Remember that there is currently more funding for fossil fuels than for reducing climate-impacting emissions.
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