The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued its final warning. The warning states that the efforts being made by various countries to prevent climate change are not enough to prevent an increase in the Earth’s temperature by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. In such a situation, it is becoming difficult to keep it below 2 degree Celsius.
In its latest synthesis report, the IPCC has said that there is hardly a scientific scenario where the world can avoid warming, compound heatwaves, droughts and sea level rise during this decade.
An increase in Earth’s average temperature of 1.5 or 2 °C is measured based on pre-industrial temperatures.
The synthesis report targeted at policy makers was released on Monday. This is the final conclusion under the sixth assessment cycle of the IPCC which is also the last report since its inception in 1988. The first Assessment Report (AR1) came out in 1990 and the Final Assessment Report (AR6) was released during 2021-22. The IPCC was formed by the United Nations to provide regular scientific assessments to policy makers on the current state of climate change.
After showing the path till the year 2040, now the possibility of meeting of IPCC in the near future is very less. About one thousand researchers and scientists are involved in this work of IPCC. Many of them believe that enough scientific warnings have been issued and the time has come to act.
The IPCC has said in its latest report that since the AR5 cycle, there has been a continuous expansion in climate related policies and laws, but there are still shortcomings and challenges.
Based on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) announced in October 2021, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2030 are expected to increase the Earth’s temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius during the 21st century, the report said. Celsius and it will be difficult to limit it below 2 degree Celsius. As of last year, 33 countries and the European Union have announced a target year for net zero carbon emissions through legislation or policy declaration.
In addition, financial flows are well short of what is needed to meet climate goals in all regions. The report also states that public and private investment for fossil fuels is still high.
The report also highlights that there is a wide gap in funding between developing and poor countries for their energy transition and climate adaptation planning. However, climate finance tracked globally after AR5 shows an increasing trend. However, current global financial flows are not sufficient to constrain the implementation of environmentally friendly alternatives, especially in developing countries.
