UN Issues “Now or Never” Warning On Climate Crisis

IPCC report: ‘now or never’ if world is to stave off climate disaster; Greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025, say climate scientists in what is in effect their final warning

Fiona Harvey, 4 April 2022 (UK Guardian)

“The world can still hope to stave off the worst ravages of climate breakdown but only through a ‘now or never’ dash to a low-carbon economy and society, scientists have said in what is in effect a final warning for governments on the climate…Greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025, and can be nearly halved this decade, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to give the world a chance of limiting future heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels…

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…[It will require a few percent of global GDP by mid-century and] a massive effort by governments, businesses and individuals…[Because the world is failing to make the changes needed, temperatures will soar to more than 3C, with catastrophic consequences, unless policies and actions are urgently strengthened…[Though] it was now ‘almost inevitable’ that temperatures would rise above 1.5C – the level above which many of the effects of climate breakdown will become irreversible – the IPCC said it could be possible to bring them back down below the critical level by the end of this century…[with] technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere…[which campaigners warned] could not be a substitute for deep emissions cuts now…

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Soaring energy prices and the war in Ukraine have prompted governments…[including the US, the UK and the EU to consider] ramping up fossil fuels…but the IPCC report made clear that increasing fossil fuels would put the 1.5C target beyond reach…[Importantly, the report] also tells us we have the tools we need to reach our goals, cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, reach net zero by 2050, and secure a healthier, cleaner planet…Coal must be effectively phased out…Methane emissions must be reduced by a third…Growing forests and preserving soils will be necessary…All sectors of the global economy, from energy and transport to buildings and food, must change dramatically… click here for more

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