The report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that approximately 3.6 billion people are in contexts “highly vulnerable to climate change.” The United Nations entity also indicates that the world’s governments “have fallen short” in the fight against climate change and urgent joint action is urgently needed.
“The opportunity to guarantee a livable and sustainable future for all is rapidly running out,” stresses the just submitted report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) this Monday March 20 in Switzerland.
The text coincides with the deadline stipulated in the Paris Agreement signed in 2015, in which world leaders agreed on efforts to keep the increase in the average temperature of the planet below 2ºC, with respect to pre-industrial levels, and seek that this increase has a limit of 1.5ºC.
The report condenses the six reports formulated by the group of scientists and experts since 2014. In all the texts, the “unequivocal” confirmation of the responsibility of the human being to counteract the climate emergency is highlighted.
Lack of commitment from the private sector and citizens, insufficient budgets for research and little political interest from governments are some of the main causes that the IPCC attributes to inaction to reverse the situation.
Climate change has caused a substantial increase in the intensity of natural disasters, resulting in irreversible damage to the ecosystem and strong effects on the lives of populations at risk.
The report also highlights the inequality between the populations most affected by the climate crisis and the nations with the highest historical greenhouse gas emissions.
an uneven crisis
“We are not doing enough, and the poor and vulnerable are bearing the brunt of our collective inaction,” said Madeleine Diouf Sarr, jefa of the Climate Change Division of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD) of Senegal.
Through illustrative graphs and tables, the report shows how the The impacts of climate change affect populations in countries with less industrial development more intensely.
Historical droughts, intense floods and massive migrations due to climatic causes, are some of the factors that the report points out as causing the social and economic inequalities in the world to have worsened.
The IPCC report marks 2035 as the new deadline for humanity to drastically reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. The text has received diverse reactions from world leaders, who heed the call made by scientists.
“The climate time bomb is ticking”
The IPCC is a United Nations body in charge of bringing together experts on climate change to analyze the effects and possible solutions to the crisis. The presentation of the report was led by the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
Guterres described the report as “a survival guide for humanity.” In addition, he made an urgent call for rapid action by the international community. “The climate time bomb is ticking,” he warned.
A global call to action
In addition to the Secretary General, other bodies such as the European Commission (EC) reacted to the report. Frans Timmermans, EC vice-president for the Green Deal, also highlighted the importance of the report through a post on Twitter.
“The science is clear: the longer we wait to dramatically reduce emissions, the greater the risks and damage. This is vital. we must speed up“, sentenced Timmermans in his social network.
The #climatecrisis affects nature, health, and creates food and water insecurity. Those who contributed least are hit the hardest.
The science is clear: the longer we wait with deep emissions cuts, the higher the risks, the more damage.
This is existential. We must speed up.
— Frans Timmermans (@TimmermansEU) March 20, 2023
Environmental activists also reacted to the post. The Climate Action Network, a non-governmental organization that works against climate change, called on the world’s governments to follow the report’s recommendations.
“Governments have no excuse for ignoring the emphatic warning about this critical decade. They must act fast to reject fossil fuels,” the organization said in a statement.
The IPCC report, in addition to being descriptive of the current climate situation, also opens the possibility of a future far from the climate crisis, if the world reacts favorably to scientific evidence on climate change.
If the world acts, a better future is “highly likely”
The publication states in its conclusions that, at this moment, the climate tragedy is still avoidable. However, this scenario conditions a rapid change of course in the modern dynamics of production and consumption.
Scientists emphasize the need to reduce the costs of renewable energy —such as solar and wind—, to facilitate the reduction in the use of fossil fuels, responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions.
A call was also made to the public to change their consumption habits. “Traveling on foot or by bicycle and public transport improve air quality, health and employment opportunities and provide equity,” the report states.
Climate change is a problem that affects billions of people in the world today. This month alone, Cyclone Freddy killed more than 500 people in Malawi, Madagascar and Mozambique.
The historic drought in Somalia killed more than 40,000 people in 2022 and Pakistan is still not recovering from the intense floods that hit the country the same year, which killed more than 1,700 people.
The world is hoping to avoid a full-scale climate catastrophe, but action must be immediate.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
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