UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres says a report published today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a \u201ccode red for humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: \u00a0greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk,\u201d the Secretary-General says in a statement.<\/p>\n
According to the latest report by the IPCC Working Group 1 released today scientists are observing changes in the Earth\u2019s climate in every region and across the whole climate system. Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some of the changes already set in motion \u2013 such as continued sea level rise \u2013 are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years.<\/p>\n
However, strong and sustained reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases would limit climate change. While benefits for air quality would come quickly, it could take 20-30 years to see global temperatures stabilize, according to the IPCC Working Group I report, Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are already at 1.2 degrees and rising,\u201d the UN Secretary General says in his statement. \u201cWarming has accelerated in recent decades. Every fraction of a degree counts.\u00a0 Greenhouse gas concentrations are at record levels.\u00a0 Extreme weather and climate disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity. That is why this year\u2019s United Nations climate conference in Glasgow is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Secretary-General says the solution are clear:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet\u2026 Countries should also end all new fossil fuel exploration and production, and shift fossil fuel subsidies into renewable energy. \u00a0By 2030, solar and wind capacity should quadruple and renewable energy investments should triple to maintain a net zero trajectory by mid-century.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe.\u00a0 But, as today\u2019s report makes clear, there is no time for delay and no room for excuses.\u00a0 I count on government leaders and all stakeholders to ensure COP26 is a success.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report was approved on Friday by 195 member governments of the IPCC, through a virtual approval session that was held over two weeks starting on July 26.<\/p>\n
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme addressed the IPCC at a press conference to launch the report.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have been telling us for over three decades of the dangers of allowing the planet to warm. The world listened, but it didn\u2019t hear. The world listened, but it didn\u2019t act strongly enough. As a result,\u00a0climate change<\/a>\u00a0is a problem that is here, now. Nobody is safe. And it is getting worse faster.\u00a0\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cWe must treat\u00a0climate change<\/a>\u00a0as an immediate threat, just as we must treat the connected crises of nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, as immediate threats,\u201d Ms Andersen concluded.<\/p>\n See also:<\/strong><\/p>\n The press conference to present the Summary for Policymakers of #IPCC\u2019s next #ClimateReport, Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis, will be held via livestream at 10am CEST on 9 August. Follow live on Facebook https:\/\/bit.ly\/IPCCFBLIVE<\/a><\/p>\n