The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has just published its sixth report. Often taken — wrongly — as a book of solutions, this text takes stock of the climate situation and lists the major challenges ahead. In his “letter to decision makers”the IPCC notably assesses the impact of the changes already orchestrated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Insufficient” efforts
“Efforts are insufficient. » This is how the IPCC report sums up in a single sentence. In their conclusions, the experts are particularly harsh with the “decision-makers”. They recall that greenhouse gas emissions should already be down from one year to the next to follow the recommendations of the Paris agreements, signed in 2015.
But the reality is very different and the Earth experienced a new record in 2022. While “carbon neutrality” projects are flourishing in the four corners of the world, the IPCC is calling for action to be taken. The group regrets the lack of means put in place to keep those promises.
In its risk assessment, the IPCC announces that this “gap” between “promises” and “deeds” should cause the Earth to warm up by more than 3°C by the end of the century. With such a temperature on the surface, thousands of ecosystems will be threatened and will eventually disappear in the decades to come.
The warming is already 1.1°C
Global warming is not a fatal fate that awaits humanity at the end of the century. As the group of experts reminds us in its report, it has already begun. Compared to the pre-industrial era, the average temperature of the planet has already gained 1.1°C.
These consequences are already clearly visible, with a particularly hot summer of 2022 and record heat waves. The IPCC explains that such a rise in temperatures will have long-term impacts on crops, creating famines and in fact population displacements.
With regard to sea level, the IPCC assures that the water is already 20 centimeters higher than a century ago. Pacific atolls, such as Kiribati and Tuvalu, are on the front line. The governments of these small countries, well aware of the risks, are negotiating agreements with Australia, in particular to relocate the population, once the atoll has inevitably fallen below sea level.
The next 10 years will be those of the seesaw
If the situation may seem lost in advance, the IPCC is not defeatist. The group of experts ensures that changes are still possible. To do this, limiting global warming to below 2°C must become an absolute priority. The IPCC assures that each additional fraction of a degree increases the risks exponentially.
Rising waterunstoppable today, should bring sea level 2 to 3 meters above what we know today. “Within 2000 years, the ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica will disappear almost completely and irreversibly. »
If these consequences of global warming are unstoppable today, this is not the case with the rise in temperature. The limit of 1.5°C set in 2015 can still be reached. But we must reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 48% by 2030 compared to 2019.
All concerned, all responsible
In order to achieve this, the IPCC asks States and large companies to make an effort. But the general public must also understand that it has a crucial role to play. The transition from fossil fuels to electrical energies must become an individual priority.
The IPCC report also mentions our relationship to meat, red in particular, which must change considerably. A transition to a more plant-based diet is mandatory in the years to come. The IPCC assesses the role of the civilian population as prohibitive.
It can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from key sectors by 40-70%. Simply by playing on demand and refusing to consume products that are harmful to the planet. As the report states, solutions “accessible and economical” exist today, all that remains is to implement them, on our scale.
