- The IPCC’s various assessment cycles have played a significant role in highlighting the fact that greenhouse gas emissions with changes in weather and climate and the evidence that human actions are nudging the world closer to irreversible cataclysm.
- It is a synthesis of reports that since 2018 have not only bolstered the human link in warming but also analyzed, from multiple angles, the implications of not meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement, of endeavouring to keep temperatures from rising 1.5°C above pre-industrial times.
- The report stresses the need for finance to flow from developed countries to developing countries and the need to compensate countries that are poised to lose the most from climate change, to help them build resilience.
- It says that the planet’s best chance to keep temperatures below 1.5°C is to ensure GHG emissions are reduced to 48% of 2019 levels by 2030 and 99% by 2050.
- With the current policies, the temperature will rise by 2.5°C to 3.2°C by 2100.
- The current report also talks about the falling cost of solar and wind power, and the expansion of electric vehicle fleets.
India has “welcomed” the report and said that several sections underline its stated position: that the climate crisis is due to unequal contributions, and that climate justice must underlie mitigation and adaptation. However, India must also not ignore the other message that only a concerted effort, with countries stretching beyond their comfort zones, can give the planet a fighting chance to stave off the worst.