On 4 April, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its latest report which focuses on climate change mitigation and the need to rapidly reduce emissions. The report pinpoints energy efficiency, renewable energy and electrification as key solutions to help the world decrease greenhouse gases within this decade.
Helen Clarkson, CEO of international non-profit Climate Group, said:
“It is deeply distressing that we are not in a position to achieve a safe world for our future. Even if all current government and business commitments are met, we will vastly overshoot the warming target laid out by the IPCC.
“I can’t overstate the importance of governments and businesses setting ambitious targets, delivering on them, and eventually bringing them forward. The worrying issue right now is that many of them are only in the setting targets stage. The science has been clear for some time: net zero is not optional. This is the Climate Decade, and we must halve emissions in 2030 if we have any chance of net zero by 2050.
“This is not about waiting for another UN conference or global meeting to take a next step. My message to every policy maker and business leader that reads a copy of this report is simple: clear whatever is on your desk and start reworking your climate plans. Anything else is an unquestionable failure.”
