‘Now or never’ the only chance to avert a climate catastrophe: the IPCC
19:28
The world can still avoid a climate catastrophe, but only through the transition to a low-carbon economy "now or never" – says the latest edition of the IPCC report – the most important document in the world on climate change.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025, and this decade could be almost halved if the world has a chance to limit future warming to 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels.
This limit is important, because already with global warming by 1.5 ° C, heat waves will increase, and longer warm and shorter cold seasons await us. But with global warming of 2 ° C, temperature extremes are more likely to hit critical tolerances for agriculture and human health.
The final cost of the transition to low-carbon economies is minimal, according to scientists and the authors of the report – by the middle of the century, it is expected to amount to several percent of global GDP – although it will require enormous efforts from governments, businesses, and individuals. Unfortunately, the world is not on the right track so far, scientists warn.
