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“Urgency. Gravity. Hope.” World’s top climate report highlights urgent need for climate action


“Urgency. Gravity. Hope.” World’s top climate report highlights urgent need for climate action

March 19, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has approved the Summary for Policymakers of its Synthesis Report Sixth Assessment Report. this file Consolidate six reports Reports published by the IPCC in recent years have highlighted the catastrophic current and future impacts of global climate change. It also paves the way to protect us and limit the harms of climate change – but only if governments are willing to accept it.

this IPCC was established in 1988 Depend on United Nations Environment Program and world meteorological organization Provides governments around the world with scientific reports that can be used to formulate effective climate policy. The IPCC currently has 195 member countries, and their reports are used by all levels of government, from municipal governments to multinational governments such as the European Union. The reports have also been increasingly used by civil society organizations and private industry in recent years.

Since its inception, the IPCC has published six assessment reports covering “the state of scientific, technical and socioeconomic knowledge about climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for reducing the rate of climate change,” according to their websiteThe synthesis was released this week, March 19th, nine years after the previous report and three years after the work of scientists, climate groups and governments.

The process for generating and approving reports is long and arduous. First, the scope and outline are determined by experts and approved by the government. Next, experts are nominated as lead authors and chapter leaders (called “coordinating lead authors”), who write and edit the report’s chapters.the last one Summary for Policymakers is created from a report and the government approves the summary line by line. Zinta Zommers, one of the lead authors and a human affairs officer at the UN, told GlacierHub that “a total of 1,433 hours were spent in meetings to get this report approved,” not including the cost of writing the report. time. Report. She also stresses that the roles are unpaid – meaning experts have to juggle the reports outside of their already busy lives – but creating a more liveable future for young people like her daughter is worth it .

On Sunday, March 19, 2023, IPCC delegates celebrated the approval of the last line of the Summary for Policymakers in Interlaken, Switzerland.photo by IISD/ENB

On Sunday, representatives from each IPCC country approved the last line of text in the policymakers’ summary, two days after the IPCC meeting was due to end after a full week of negotiations, Vote to Approve Assessment Synthesis ReportDuring the approval process, “scientists have to defend every word before the government and reject any request that is not supported by science,” Zommers said. Once the final line is approved, applause Statements from delegates, followed by a standing ovation from South Korea’s lead author and IPCC Chair, Hoesung Lee.

Zommers said the report’s theme can be summed up as “Urgency. Gravity. Hope.” The report sheds light on the catastrophic moment we’ve reached with regard to climate change and the failure to properly address it, but it also highlights what we can do about it. Act to mitigate harm and protect our communities. Contributing author and UN Economic Affairs Officer Debbie Ley echoed this in an interview with GlacierHub, saying that “climate action is not happening at the speed and scale needed to combat climate change” but that “adaptation options are feasible and effective today” only We start now. In the future, these options will be more costly and less efficient, Ley explained.

Glaciers, such as the Lower Curtis Glacier in Washington State, are retreating rapidly across the globe due to climate change. Their disappearance threatens water resources, contributes to major flooding events, and contributes to rising sea levels.Photo by Jenna Travers

According to Zommers and Ley, humanity will not be able to stay within the 1.5°C target, and we will likely exceed it by the early 2030s. over the 1.5 degree threshold The risks of food and water shortages, extreme weather events and sea level rise will be greatly increased. In comparison, a 1.5C warming is equivalent to 2.7F.exist an interview Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe draws a fever analogy with the New York Times: “Think how bad you feel when you have a fever of 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit, 2.7 degrees above normal . This fever is equivalent to what the planet is facing.”

Ley emphasized that we are already seeing deadlier weather patterns such as hurricanes and floodswildfire is increase intensity and frequencyand Climate refugees on the rise due to these changes. glacier retreat and melting polar ice caps cause sea level rise displacing coastal communities. The report said, “Above 1.5oGlobal warming C, limited freshwater resources pose potential hard adaptation limits for regions dependent on glaciers and snowmelt. “

However, both Ley and Zommers emphasized that the final section of the report offered hope.Since the previous report, “policies and laws have addressed [climate] Mitigation measures have been expanding,” Ley said. Still, more climate-resilient developments rooted in diverse knowledge, including scientific, indigenous and local knowledge, are necessary to tackle the climate crisis. Zommers explained that, “By 2050, the comprehensive strategy [transport, industry, building, and food] sectors have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40-70%,” making innovations in these sectors critical to addressing and mitigating the harms of climate change.

Figure 7 in the IPCC Summary for Policymakers highlights potential actions governments can take to improve their climate action, such as efficient buildings, ecosystem restoration, bioelectricity and resilient power systems.

While action alone won’t be enough to tackle climate change alone, Zommers stress they can move faster. “Of the 60 actions assessed, the largest individual contributions came from walking and cycling and using electric transport,” she said.Effective climate action is not limited to national or international governments; city and state/provincial governments can make a huge contribution to addressing climate change by move away from fossil fuel usemake their area more friendly to walking and cyclingand divested from the company Support the use of fossil fuels.

While the climate situation is grim, the IPCC report offers governments and individuals actionable solutions to address climate change. Our window to combat climate change is shrinking, and we need to step up our action now if we want to provide a liveable planet for present and future generations. The report is a warning, but it also offers a host of options that countries can use to chart a way forward. It’s a tough road, but many governments around the world are already taking it. If followed, it can lead humanity to a better future.

glacier center is a climate communication initiative led by Ben Orloff, an anthropologist at the Columbia Climate Institute. Many of GlacierHub’s authors are students or alumni of the Climate School.






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