BAMOS March 2023
6
News
‘ It can be done . It must be done ’: IPCC delivers definitive report on climate change , and where to now
Frank Jotzo 1 and Mark Howden 2
1 Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy , Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions , Australian National University 2 ANU Institute for Climate , Energy and Disaster Solutions , Australian National University
The world is in deep trouble on climate change , but if we really put our shoulder to the wheel we can turn things around . Loosely , that ’ s the essence of
today ’ s report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (
IPCC ).
The IPCC is the world ’ s official body for assessment of climate change . The panel has just released its Synthesis Report ,
capping off seven years of in-depth assessments on various topics .
The report draws out the key insights from six previous reports , written by hundreds of expert authors . They spanned many thousands of pages and were informed by hundreds of thousands of comments by governments and the scientific community .
The synthesis report confirms humans are unequivocally increasing greenhouse gas emissions to record levels . Global temperatures are now 1.1 o C above pre-industrial levels . They ’ re likely to reach 1.5 o C above pre-industrial levels in the early 2030s .
This warming has driven widespread and rapid global changes , including sea level rise and climate extremes — resulting in widespread harm to lives , livelihoods and natural systems .
It ’ s increasingly clear that vulnerable people in developing countries — who have generally contributed little to greenhouse gas emissions — are often disproportionately affected by climate change .
Intergenerational inequities are also likely . A child born now is likely to suffer , on average , several times as many climate extreme events in their lifetime as their grandparents did .
The world is up the proverbial creek — but we still have a paddle . Climate change is worsening , but we have the means to act .
So much at stake
Over the past week in Interlaken , Switzerland , several hundred representatives from most of the world ’ s governments scrutinised the IPCC report ’ s 35-page summary . The scrutiny
Source : IPCC