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Breaking: The latest IPCC climate report has landed, and the time for action is now

There’s a new climate report in town, and it’s a biggie. It’s been compiled by some of the world’s top climate scientists and sets out the actions policy makers and governments around the world need to take to tackle climate change. Ready to take a look? Lets get stuck in...

5 min read

The what report?

The Synthesis Report is the final stage in a complex process, and follows six IPCC reports from 2018-2022. The most recent reports focused on:

The latest science on climate change (August 2021),
Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability (February 2022) - read our article on this one,
And pathways to mitigate climate change (March 2022).

The Synthesis Report provides policymakers with up-to-date, scientific understanding of climate change, its impacts and future risks. Most importantly, though, it underlines the key areas we need to take action to address climate change.

Flat wetland landscape partly covered by snow, with a mountain in the distance. — Peat bog, Glencoe, Scotland

What does the report say?

The Synthesis Report does not beat around the bush. It makes clear that climate change is an existential threat, and is already wreaking havoc for communities and nature across the globe.

Our window is still open for avoiding the worst of the impacts from climate change, but it won’t be for long. Whether or not we make it through will depend on political leadership. But currently, action is dragging behind rhetoric.

We can draw three clear areas for action from the report:

1. Phase out fossil fuels, fast

We need a rapid and coordinated phase out of all fossil fuels, with drastic and far-reaching greenhouse gas emission cuts within this decade. We must keep temperatures below 1.5°C and avoid even a temporary overshoot.

Governments must withdraw from existing fossil fuel projects and cancel scheduled projects. Instead, they need to divert all new investments into renewables, energy efficiency measures, and widespread electrification.

Relying on unproven and unscalable technologies and offsets is a delay and distraction tactic from the real problem - fossil fuels and the vested interests propping them up. Without fossil fuel emissions cuts that start now, we have no solution to remove carbon from the atmosphere fast enough to halt climate change.

Dense woodland in low sun with tall, thin trees casting long shadows along the forest floor. — Woodland, Yorkshire

2. Protect and restore nature

Science has shown that limiting warming to 1.5°C won't be possible without protecting and restoring nature. The IPCC has shown that forests, peatlands, coastal wetlands, savannahs and grasslands could cut emissions by around 7 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent every year.

But there are limits to what nature can adapt to, especially as temperatures rise. Nature must be protected, restored, and supported to adapt as the climate warms. We can no longer take nature for granted as a limitless solution to absorb our rising emissions. We are pushing it to its limits.

Governments must prioritise land restoration and the protection of natural ecosystems on land and at sea. This is essential to avoid the release of carbon stocks, ensuring they act as sinks, rather than sources of carbon. Protecting and restoring nature is also essential to tackle the biodiversity crisis - climate and nature are two sides of the same coin.

3. Invest in clean, renewable energy

Renewables must be expanded to provide our homes and businesses with low carbon electricity. This is a vital part of our decarbonisation, alongside major investment in energy efficiency. The need for clean, affordable energy has become even more urgent by the current energy crisis. 

Critically, the transition into new renewable energy systems must be fair and just, and ensure the protection of human rights, the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Renewables such as solar and wind are low cost, low carbon technologies, which the IPCC notes are much more cost effective than continuing to use polluting high-carbon energy sources.  

A heathland of purple heather in a sunset mist. — Heathland

Who wrote this report?

The IPCC, or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is a UN body that assesses the science related to climate change. It was established in 1988 to provide political leaders with periodic scientific assessments concerning climate change, as well as how to tackle it.

The IPCC represents 195 governments. Each one has formally approved the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) text. This means they ‘own’ the result – in other words, they cannot claim they are unaware of the climate crisis.

Why is The Synthesis Report important?

IPCC assessments provide governments with rigorous scientific information on climate change, which they can use to develop climate policies.

These reports are published every six to seven years; the last, the Fifth Assessment Report, was completed in 2014 and provided the main scientific input to the Paris Agreement.

The Synthesis Report is the final element of the Sixth Assessment Report. The recommendations in it will be critical for tackling climate change and sticking to our 1.5°C target.

“For policymakers of today and tomorrow, [this is] a much-needed textbook for addressing climate change. Make no mistake, inaction and delays are not listed as options.” - IPPC Chair

Stormy blue waves hitting a vibrant yellow shoreline

We must be ready for a warming world

Climate change is happening all around us. To be effective, actions to protect and restore ecosystems will need to be increasingly responsive to change.

The RSPB is working hard to protect and restore nature, for our climate, for wildlife and for people. Take a look at some of the exciting projects we’re working on to harness the power of nature to tackle climate change.

But for the scale of change needed, our leaders must listen to the science, and put in place policies and investments to decarbonise our economy and support nature-based solutions.

Current policies risk us missing the window to secure a liveable future. But we must not lose hope. This Report shows us what we need to do. Now is our chance.