Source: Alj
At the COP27 conference in Egypt, delegates will be relying on decades of scientific research published by the UN climate science agency to sway decisions about future energy plans and global warming trajectories.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produces reports roughly every five years that represent a global scientific consensus on climate change, its causes and its impact. Last year’s report tackled the main drivers of global warming and the core elements of climate science.
That was followed by two major reports this year – one in February addressing how the world will need to adapt to climate impacts, from rising seas to dwindling wildlife, and another in April on ways for “mitigating” or reining in climate-warming emissions.
Here are some of the key takeaways from those reports:
The science report
The adaptation report
News of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine eclipsed the release in February of a seminal report on how the world should prepare for a warmer reality.With climate change already fueling extreme weather worldwide, the report urged rich and poor countries alike to adapt to impacts including more frequent heatwaves, stronger storms and higher sea levels.The report made clear that different regions face different risks and impacts, and offered localised projections for what to expect.Millions of people face poverty and food insecurity in coming years, as climate change hits crops and water supplies and threatens to disrupt trade and labour markets.The daunting forecast for the world’s poor reignited calls for a “Loss and Damage” fund through which rich nations would compensate poor countries for costs incurred dealing with climate-fueled disasters – a key demand by vulnerable countries going into the COP27 talks.
The mitigation report