As a verdict on human climate crimes, the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report cannot be clearer: the crime deserves it.
The warnings that scientists have repeatedly ignored over the past few decades are now a reality. Humans, through their actions or non-actions, explicitly overheat the earth. No place on earth can escape rising temperatures, more severe floods, hotter wildfires or more severe droughts.
future Looks worse“If we don’t stop emissions as soon as possible, our future climate is likely to become some kind of hell on earth,” said Professor Tim Palmer of Oxford University.
This will be a verdict on these climate crimes, but it has not yet been issued. The world can avoid the harshest punishment, but it can only be just. It is necessary to immediately repent of the delays that have pushed the world to the edge in the form of immediate and in-depth emission reductions.
The key aspect of the IPCC report is that every government on the planet agreed to this 42-page summary line by line, and scientists rejected any politically convenient but unscientific proposal.
As a result, the government that continues to fail to act has nowhere to hide-this crystal clear report has destroyed all their excuses. “Too many’net zero’ climate plans have been used Green Floating Pollution Business as usual,” said Teresa Anderson of ActionAid International.
The report exposes such plans with a clear statement that immediate action is the only way to avoid worsening effects, among which today’s wildfires California, Greece and Turkey, Influx Germany, China and UKAnd heat wave Canada and Siberia Just a taste. As Greta Thunberg said, the climate crisis must be seen as a crisis.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the actions that need to be taken are well known, and the IPCC report must be the driving force for action: “This report must sound the death knell for coal and fossil fuels, lest they destroy us Planet. If we unite now, we can avoid climate catastrophe. But, as the report clearly points out, there is no time to delay and no excuses.”
Every choice made now is important. Helen Clarkson, CEO of Climate Group, represents 220 regional governments and 300 multinational companies, covering 1.75 billion people and 50% of the global economy. She said: “Every decision, every investment, every goal requires The climate is at its core.”
The severity of the situation described in the report blows away the boasting about the assumed cost of climate action. In any case, the cost of inaction will be higher. Professor Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University of Bangladesh, said: “Procrastination is suicidal and economically unreasonable.”
For those governments and companies that still choose not to act, the IPCC report may eventually be used as key evidence against them in real courts. “We will take this report to court,” said Kaisa Kosonen of Greenpeace.
“By strengthening the scientific evidence between human emissions and extreme weather, the IPCC provides new and powerful means to hold the fossil fuel industry and governments directly responsible for climate emergencies,” she said. “Just look at our recent The court’s victory over Shell Realize the power of IPCC science. “
Hope is still there, just. Christiana Figueres, who was the head of climate affairs at the United Nations when the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, said: “We need to take all measures to avoid the exponential impact of climate change. But it depends on the solution. The speed of movement is much faster than the speed of influence.”
The IPCC report means that all the evidence that will be needed is now in place. “The ongoing hesitation in addressing climate change is no longer a lack of scientific evidence, but is directly related to a lack of political will,” said Christina Dahl of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
This means that political leaders are now on the dock, and it is vital that United Nations COP26 Summit The November hearing in Glasgow may be the last hearing they can avoid historical judgment.
