Rising greenhouse gas emissions are pushing the planet towards irreversible damage that can only now be stopped if drastic action is taken quickly. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was released on 20 March 2023. UN secretary-general said, "Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once."
The report sets out the millions of lives and homes ruined by droughts and floods, the millions of people facing hunger, the increased deaths from heatwaves and the damage that is being done to ecosystems as a result of climate change. More than 3 billion people are living in areas that are 'highly vulnerable' to climate breakdown, whilst water scarcity is being experienced for at least parts of the year by half of the world's population.
However, there is still hope. There is still time to avert the worst damage, but we have to act on a big scale and we have to act now. It is still just about possible to keep global temperatures below the 1.5C above pre-Industrial threshold that is considered to be vital to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
To do so, we need to end the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible, with developed countries reaching net zero for greenhouse gas emissions as close to 2040 as possible, rather than waiting for 2050. Emerging economies also need to bring their net zero targets as close to 2050 as possible. This will require major revisions by China, with a current target of 2060 and India, with a current target of 2070.
Hoesung Lee, the IPCC's Chair, said that the reports "clearly show that humanity has the knowhow and the technology to tackle human-induced climate change". He went on to say that "concerted, genuine and global transformational change" was what was required to ensure that the worst effects of climate change could be avoided.
The shift to a low-carbon economy will take three to six times the amount of finance currently devoted to green investments. Rapid falls in the price of renewable energy technologies have made them more attractive to invest in.
Climate justice has to be delivered too, because the people currently suffering from the worst effects of climate change are among the world's poorest and most vulnerable. They are also the ones who have done the least to cause climate change.
Photo of flooded house in Austin, Texas by Bryan Roschetzky | Dreamstime.com