Guterres, UN secretary general: “We need a qualitative leap if we want to stay below the 1.5 degree increase as per the Paris Agreements”. Greta Thunberg: «Unprecedented betrayal»
Climate, last call but there is hope. The situation is serious, however if we act immediately and thoroughly we can still reverse the course. As? By increasing renewable energies, decreasing soil consumption, promoting reforestation, increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and production systems. Money? There are. The technologies? Already available. How much time left? A decade. It is the message contained in the Synthesis report, released yesterday, of the Sixth Assessment of the IPCC on climate change. “It is a practical guide to defuse the climate time bomb,” was the comment of Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations. “We can stay below the 1.5 degree temperature increase, but it will take a quantum leap” to avoid the worst-case scenario of a 3.5 degree increase. For Greta Thunberg, however, the Report shows that “those in power are going in the wrong direction and will be remembered as an unprecedented betrayal”.
The climate models
Il Inter-Parliamentary Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a UN body that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. It brings together thousands of scientists from around the world, analyzes climate studies and presents policy makers with scenarios up to 2100 based on different models focused on increasing temperatures. «Urgent climate action can ensure a livable future for all», is written in the Report. “There are multiple, feasible and effective options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” “Human activities have unequivocally caused global warming” with emissions from fossil fuels, says the Report, which involved eight years of work. In the scientific world there is no longer any discussion on this issue.
The most vulnerable
Climate change does not affect everyone in the same way: «Those responsible are not the same ones who suffer the consequences», write the experts. “In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in the most vulnerable regions». Food and water insecurity will increase as the world warms. After these premises, the IPCC calls on political leaders to take action: “Current plans are insufficient to tackle climate change.”
The Paris Accords
Despite the commitments made, emissions have not decreased and CO2 in the atmosphere has reached 420 ppm, one hundred more than in 1960. Global temperatures have increased by 1.15 degrees from pre-industrial levels and to avoid extreme heat waves, stronger hurricanes, rising seas, melting ice, floods, droughts and other calamities linked to global warming, the commitment was signed in the Paris Agreements of 2015 not to exceed the threshold of +1.5°C, which however at the current rate it will be achieved already in the next decade. “We are not in line with the Paris objectives, but today we already have technologies and solutions available to achieve what has been agreed”, explained Elena Verdolini, senior scientist of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on climate change and author of the IPCC report on mitigation. There is talk of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and putting it back underground. Saudi Arabia, due to some rumors, pushed to include it in the Report, but according to many scientists «it is very expensive and with uncertain effects: a “mass distraction” to avoid the real problem: fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gases”.
«Immediate action»
Who has to move first and with which technologies, who has to put the money? The IPCC report contains indications of how to act: “There is sufficient capital to rapidly reduce greenhouse gases and the key to doing so is public funds from governments and clear signals to investors”. However, the task also falls to all of us: “A better understanding of the consequences of overconsumption can help people make more informed choices”, the Report states. “We need ambitious and urgent action that will not only reduce losses and damage to nature and people, but will bring great benefits,” summarizes Hoesung Lee, president of the IPCC. “We can still ensure a livable and sustainable future for all.”
March 20, 2023 (change March 20, 2023 | 22:54)
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