On August 6, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first part of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), focusing on the scientific basis underpinning change-related policies by the international community. More than 14,000 citations were referenced in the AR6 and a total of 78,007 expert and government review comments were included.
The IPCC’s critical findings from this report include:
The global surface temperature is 1.09°C (1.96°F) warmer than it was in 1900.
It is unequivocal: Human activity is responsible for global warming.
If current emission levels are maintained, it is highly likely that global warming will exceed 1.5℃ above preindustrial levels and continue to accelerate during the 21st century.
Extreme weather, heatwaves, floods have become more frequent and intense.
Source: IPCC
Six days after this first section of AR6 was released, the third section of the report (not planned for publication until next year) was leaked by a group of scientists concerned that governments could water down the publication since they have the authority to revise the ‘Summary for Policy Makers’. The leaked report states that the rich are more responsible for global warming than the poor. According to the Guardian, the report concludes “The top 10% of emitters globally, who are the wealthiest 10%, contribute between 36 and 45% of emissions, which is 10 times as much as the poorest 10%, who are responsible for only about three to 5%.”
Under the Paris Agreement, 191 countries agreed to meet every five years to review implementation progress and prepare updated Nationally Determined Contributions to emission reductions. The first meeting, ‘Global Stocktake’ will be held in 2023 and the complete version of the AR6 will be published just before the meeting. Findings from AR6 and the leaked third report should serve as a wake-up call to nations taking part in the Paris Agreement, whose main objective is to keep global temperature rise below 2°C.
Without deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from wealthier nations, global temperature rise will exceed that threshold. Carbon in the atmosphere has been rising steadily and is currently at an all-time high. It’s time for governments and large corporations to innovate and take-action to drastically reduce emissions to avoid the devasting consequences of further warming.
