IPCC 1.5°C Report: “With evidence from science, governments will have nowhere to hide”

4 October 2018

The report, expected to serve as a ‘rescue plan for humanity’,  will show 1.5°C is the new 2°C in terms of impacts and provide detailed signposts for policymakers on pathways to limit warming to 1.5°C   

[Listen to the full recording of the briefing]

04 October, Incheon: Civil society representatives at a press conference here by Climate Action Network highlighted the significance of the discussions underway in South Korea on the most definitive scientific assessment on climate change by the IPCC on the 1.5°C temperature limit as enshrined in the Paris Agreement.
The report will provide detailed signposts that can guide policymakers on pathways to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The summary for policymakers, currently under negotiations, is expected to be approved on 8 October and will summarise the nearly 1000-page report.

This report comes at a time when the world is witnessing extreme weather events that are causing wide-scale destruction with alarming consequences even at 1°C warming. Every half a degree matters and the current collective climate commitments, which put us on a 3°C warming pathway, are nowhere near scaling down to a safe zone of 1.5°C. 
The 1.5°C goal is a lifeline for those on the frontlines of impacts and is critical for the protection of fragile ecosystems many of which will be irreversibly lost even at 2°C warming.

Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director, Greenpeace International, said:

 “We must remember Parties requested this report in 2015 and they must own it. This IPCC report is set to outline a rescue plan for humanity. It will shine a light on what needs to happen and what we’ll suffer if we fail to act quickly enough. Those leaders who stand up, listen to the science and take action will be remembered as the moral authorities of their time. Given the evidence from science, countries must raise their national climate targets in line with a 1.5C pathway.”

“We need new climate leadership. This report is not about politics, it is a scientific report and we need leaders who are guided by science. Governments really will have nowhere to hide with this evidence.”

She added she was hopeful and inspired by people taking action locally and climate justice groups such as in the Philippines demanding more from their governments.

Christopher Weber, Lead Scientist, WWF Climate and Energy Programme, said:

“New science shows that in many ways 1.5°C is the new 2°C in terms of impacts we are seeing and what we can expect. Delivering on the 1.5°C will require massive transformations in our societies which will only get harder and riskier the longer we wait and  if we fail to increase climate ambition in the near term.”

“The IPCC report will provide clarity to governments and the most important underlying message is that to reach the 1.5°C temperature limit we need rapid and deep decarbonisation by 2050 but preferably by 2040 across sectors and specifically in our energy and land use systems. The difference between 1.5°C being feasible or not feasible is in many ways down to mpolitical will.”

Raijeli Nicole, Regional Director, Oxfam in the Pacific, said:

“The countries most vulnerable to climate change are boldly leading and we only have to see the declarations from the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Fiji to increase their nationally determined contributions, on the sidelines of the recent One Planet Summit in New York. We ask that other countries step up ambition.

Speaking from the Solomon Islands, she added that the IPCC report must be a concrete scientific input into the Talanoa Dialogue at COP24, which is at its heart is about an open and honest conversation and identifying the barriers to climate action. “This is not aspirational talk, it (the Talanoa Dialogue) must consider the report seriously and use it as a tool that we can all work with collectively.”

“Also, it is not just the energy sector we need to focus on but all sectors (maritime, aviation, land and agriculture) and how they can be managed with interactions between adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development to keep us in the 1.5°C zone.”

While the speakers could not comment on the content of the draft report under discussions and the political dynamics at play in the negotiations, they all reiterated that politics cannot come in the way of science and every half a degree matters in this race against time with climate change.  

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About Climate Action Network:
Climate Action Network (CAN) is a global network of over 1300 NGOs working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. www.climatenetwork.org
 
For more information: contact Dharini Parthasarathy, Senior Communications Coordinator, Climate Action Network International; email:
dparthasarathy@climatenetwork.org, or whatsapp (Indian number) +918826107830  and call (US number) +19292782829

 

 

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