Measures to contain climate change are insufficient

A report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released this Monday (20), points out that the pace and scale of the measures taken so far, as well as the current plans, are insufficient to deal with the changes. in the mood. The document warns that more ambitious measures are needed and shows that, “if we act now, it is still possible to guarantee a sustainable and livable future for all”. The IPCC was created by the United Nations Environment Program (UN Environment) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988. The purpose is to provide regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications and possible future risks, in addition to to propose adaptation and mitigation options. The panel has 195 member countries, including Brazil. “In 2018, the IPCC highlighted the unprecedented scale of the challenge of limiting warming to 1.5°C. Five years later, the challenge is even greater due to the constant increase in greenhouse gas emissions”, points out the report. To reach this index of 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels, it is necessary to reduce global emissions by half by 2030. “The burning of fossil fuels and the uneven and unsustainable use of energy and land for more than a century have caused a global warming of 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. As a result, extreme weather events have occurred more frequently and intensely, which have generated increasingly dangerous impacts on nature and people in all regions of the world,” the document points out. Aditi Mukherji, one of the authors of the synthesis report, director of the International Institute of Water Management (IWMI), points out that climate justice is crucial, as those who have contributed least to climate change are disproportionately affected. In all, 93 people contributed to the document. “Nearly half of the world’s population lives in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change. In the last decade, the number of deaths due to floods, droughts and storms was 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions”, said, in a note, Mukherji about the report. To achieve the goals of containing climate change, the IPCC proposes actions aimed at reducing or avoiding the emission of greenhouse gases, such as access to energy and clean technologies, low-carbon electrification and encouragement of public transport. “The economic benefits to human health derived from improving air quality alone would be approximately the same, or perhaps even greater, than the costs of reducing or avoiding emissions.”

Agência Brasil