Key takeaways from the UN's latest climate change report
The UN has released a major climate change report, the result of research conducted over the past five years. The report suggests the world will cross a critical limit for global warming within the next decade. To prevent that we would have to turn away from fossil fuels and we would have to take those measures now. Here are the key takeaways.
The report has been prepared by IPCC
The latest report has been prepared by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), providing a comprehensive assessment of climate change, its causes, potential impacts, and remedial measures. IPCC was founded in 1988. The current report is based on six previous reports on climate change issued since 2018, each put together by hundreds of experts worldwide and approved by 195 countries.
It is less likely to maintain warming below 1.5-degrees Celsius
The report highlights that it is less likely to maintain warming rates below 1.5-degrees Celsius. The 2018 IPCC report highlighted it would be challenging to hold this limit. The world has already warmed by 1.1-degrees Celsius and is likely to cross 1.5-degrees Celsius in the 2030s. Since overshooting this limit appears inevitable, the focus should be on gradually bringing down the temperatures.
There is an urgent need to reach net zero emissions
Bringing down temperatures from the critical limit would need technology called carbon capture, which prevents carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. There is also an urgency to reach net zero, cutting greenhouse gas emissions to the point they do not increase.
The report recommends turning away from fossil fuels
The report suggests that nations should work toward curbing the use of fossil fuels. In order to limit global warming at 1.5- or 2-degrees Celsius, governments and companies would have to invest three to six times the current $600 billion they now spend yearly on boosting clean energy. Clean energy comes from renewable, zero-emission sources that do not cause pollution.
Earth's temperature is estimated to rise 2.1- to 2.9-degrees Celsius
Given the current government policies, Earth is estimated to heat up by 2.1 to 2.9-degrees Celsius this century. The report warns that with warming rates between 2- and 3-degrees Celsius, Greenland and West Antarctic ice cover will be lost "almost completely and irreversibly." Governments would have to up their commitments by 2030, and attain net zero by 2050, to keep warming around 1.5-degrees Celsius.
India aims to reach net zero emissions by 2070
The US and European Union have committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, while China is targeting 2060 and India is aiming for 2070. With regard to curbing emissions, the report recommends reforming transport, industry, and energy systems. The report makes one thing clear: the actions we take today will significantly impact the life on our planet in the coming years.
The current report will be taken up at the COP28
The current IPCC report will be taken up again at the COP28 or the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will occur this December in Dubai, where nations will gather to address their progress in handling climate change. During last year's climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, several countries attempted but failed to get the UN to agree to withdraw oil, gas, and coal.
