"The pace and scale of what has been done over the past five years and current plans are insufficient to address climate change."
This is the alarm raised by the
UN climate experts in the synthesis for political decision-makers of the 6th Evaluation Report, recalling that in 2018 they said that "an unprecedented challenge" was needed to curb global warming to 1.5 Celsius degrees.
"Over a century of use of fossil fuels, unsustainable energy and land have raised temperatures by 1.1 degrees above pre-industrial levels; extreme weather disasters are more frequent and intense around the world," says the IPCC.
Five years after the alarm raised by the scientists of the 194 UN countries "that challenge has become even greater due to the continuous growth of greenhouse gas emissions", reiterate the experts of the IPCC (Intergovernmental panel on climate change).
"Every increase in temperature quickly turns into an escalation of dangers" add the scientists, recalling that "more intense heat waves, storms and other weather excesses increase the risks to human health and ecosystems".
"Climate-related food and water insecurity is estimated to grow with increasing heat. And when the risks are combined with other adverse events, such as pandemics or wars, they become more difficult to manage," warns the IPCC .
Furthermore, say the experts in the report, "almost half of the world's population lives in areas highly vulnerable to climate change. In the last 10 years the number of deaths from droughts, storms and hurricanes has been 15 times higher" and Europe as well risks an increase in deaths and people at risk from heat stress.
Scientists warn that "accelerated action to adapt to climate change is essential in this decade. In the meantime, greenhouse gas emissions must be cut immediately in all sectors and halved by 2030".
"There are many options to reduce greenhouse gases and curb man-made climate change and they are already available", "the choices over the next few years will be decisive
in deciding our future and that of future generations", explain the report's editors.
"We need ambitious and urgent action that will not only reduce losses and damage to nature and people but will bring great benefits" says Hoesung Lee, president of the IPCC, noting that "if we act now we can ensure a sustainable future for all".
The summary for policy makers was prepared in Interlaken, Switzerland, last week at the 58th session of the IPCC.
After a week of negotiations, which went over two full days beyond the scheduled conclusion and involved round-the-clock deliberations, the delegates approved the 37-page text which offers policy makers an overview of the state of knowledge on the science of climate change.
The "6th Assessment Report on Climate Change" arrived eight years after the previous one and is made up of three volumes to which almost 1,000 scientists from all over the world contributed, who provided an overview of the three main issues on climate change: scientific basis, adaptation and mitigation.
Topics contained in the three volumes: "Climate Change 2021 - The physical-scientific bases", published in August 2021, "Climate Change 2022: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability" published in February 2022 and the third on "Mitigation" in April 2022. At the same time, the IPCC has published three other special reports on specific topics: on 1.5 degrees, on terrestrial ecosystems and on oceans and the cryosphere.
"The climate bomb ticks the seconds. But today's IPCC report is a practical guide to defuse the climate time bomb. As the report shows, the 1.5 degree limit is achievable. But it will take a quantum leap in climate action".
This is the comment of the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, who today also presents "an all-round acceleration agenda" to "strengthen efforts" for the climate.
