IPCC Report Highlights Climate Time Bomb

When UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres described the IPCC’s AR6 report on climate change as a ‘survival guide for humanity’ it served as a stark reminder that reaching a key global temperature goal of 1.5C by 2030 is teetering perilously in the balance and will likely be missed.

The summary findings of six key pieces of research completed over the past five years by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific body that advises the United Nations on rising temperatures, were as damning as they were frightening.

The AR6 report blames humans as being responsible for virtually all global heating over the last 200 years.  In the last half century, temperatures have risen to their highest levels in 2000 years, and concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest in at least 2 million years.

“Humanity is on thin ice and that ice is melting fast,” said Guterres. “The climate time bomb is ticking.”

Put it down to creative scriptwriting or not, but these words were delivered with such meaning and power, it leaves little room for second chances.

The one over-riding message from the AR6 report that gives me hope is the crucial role of renewable energy and clean technology in helping to avoid the growing climate disaster.

While the UK has taken great strides in working towards net zero, cleantech innovation needs to go further and faster. It’s imperative for the government, private sector and the public to work together towards more ambitious climate commitments.

We know giving up our reliance on fossil fuels will reduce emissions but much more investment and development is needed in renewable energy, carbon capture, climate repair and other low-carbon technologies. 

The key highlights, and questions:

HARD AND FAST PLANNING

We’ve already hit 1.1C and as climate scientists predict there is little chance of keeping the world from warming by more than 1.5C, there needs to be a hard and fast plan for coming back down as quickly as possible after overshooting this mark. This should be top of the agenda for when the 200 country members of the UN meet again at COP28 in Dubai this November. The urgent question governments need to be asking themselves is what to do if the world overshoots 1.5C?

UNPROVEN TECHNOLOGY

Coming back from overshooting will require urgent investment and government support for the development of unproven technologies such as carbon capture.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and switch to renewable and cheaper forms of energy such as hydrogen, wind, solar, tidal and geothermal.

PUBLIC INTERVENTION

There’s plenty we can do as individuals: avoid unnecessary travel, use low carbon transport, walk and cycle more, reduce and reuse where possible and recycle everything else, and eliminate food waste.

COMPLIANCE 

At COP28 the United Nations will publish its first Global Stocktake (GST - no, not another tax), the result of a two-year assessment of how nations are doing in their efforts to tackle climate change, which began at COP26 in Glasgow. Set up under the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, the GST is conducted every five years and evaluates how accurately countries are implementing their climate actions and where improvement is needed. To address deceptive claims, otherwise known as ‘Greenwashing’, it is essential to establish transparent reporting frameworks for reporting climate actions and progress. However, this must include verification checks and penalties for non-compliance or misrepresentation of climate action reporting for both countries and companies. 

MONITORING

The next IPCC report isn’t due until 2030. Now that we are seeing the full impact of the climate crisis, I would like reporting cycles to be shortened, allowing policymakers, C-suite, and cleantech innovators to have access to clearer scientific advice over the next seven years. 

The IPCC report and initiatives like GST will undoubtedly create opportunities for investors and innovators as many governments’ needs to demonstrate and support climate action progress becomes even more critical. More frequent and better reporting is the only thing that will drive public and corporate behaviour. And time is not on our side.