IPCC publishes sixth assessment report on climate change
In 2021, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its sixth assessment report, the first major review of the science of climate change since 2013.
The IPCC provides regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, as well as options for adaptation and mitigation.
The report provides an updated assessment of the current science regarding climate change and is structured around four main findings and subsequent conclusions.
The current state of the climate:
- It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred.
- The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years
- Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe.
- Improved knowledge of climate processes, paleoclimate evidence and the response of the climate system to increasing radiative forcing gives a best estimate of equilibrium climate sensitivity of 3°C.
- Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least the mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades.
- Many changes in the climate system become larger in direct relation to increasing global warming. They include increases in the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine heatwaves, and heavy precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts in some regions, and proportion of intense tropical cyclones, as well as reductions in Arctic sea ice, snow cover and permafrost.
- Continued global warming is projected to further intensify the global water cycle, including its variability, global monsoon precipitation and the severity of wet and dry events.
- Under scenarios with increasing CO2 emissions, the ocean and land carbon sinks are projected to be less effective at slowing the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere;
Many changes due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions are irreversible for centuries to millennia, especially changes in the ocean, ice sheets and global sea level.
Natural drivers and internal variability will modulate human-caused changes, especially at regional scales and in the near term, with little effect on centennial global warming. These modulations are important to consider in planning for the full range of possible changes. With further global warming, every region is projected to increasingly experience concurrent and multiple changes in climatic impact-drivers. Changes in several climatic impact-drivers would be more widespread at 2°C compared to 1.5°C global warming and even more widespread and/or pronounced for higher warming levels. Low-likelihood outcomes, such as ice sheet collapse, abrupt ocean circulation changes, some compound extreme events and warming substantially larger than the assessed very likely range of future warming cannot be ruled out and are part of risk assessment.
From a physical science perspective, limiting human-induced global warming to a specific level requires limiting cumulative CO2 emissions, reaching at least net zero CO2 emissions, along with strong reductions in other greenhouse gas emissions. Strong, rapid and sustained reductions in CH4 emissions would also limit the warming effect resulting from declining aerosol pollution and would improve air quality.
The New European Bauhaus
In 2020, the European Commission (EC) announced a new ‘European Bauhaus’ initiative, supporting a sustainable industrial transition and finding new green technology to mitigate climate change.
It is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative that links the world of science and technology to that of art and culture, helping to build up a sustainable and inclusive future.
The EC launched the first New European Bauhaus prizes in 2021. The 2021 edition of the prizes contributed to the design phase of the initiative, recognising existing achievements in the field of sustainable design.
Find further information on the event in a dedicated UKRO article: ‘New European Bauhaus Conference UPDATE LINK‘, as well as a previous update: ‘Commission Launches Design Phase of European Bauhaus Initiative UPDATE LINK.’
Education for Climate Coalition
The European ‘Education for Climate Coalition’ seeks to mobilise the education and training community to work towards achieving climate neutrality and directly complementing the European Green Deal agenda.
An online platform will foster the sharing of knowledge and experience, connect education stakeholders and stimulate innovation. The Climate Coalition will rely on a co-creation process between an EU Secretariat, national coalitions, schools, universities and other stakeholders.
Further information is available on the Education for Climate Coalition website.
Green Consumption Pledge
The pledge calls upon businesses in various sectors of the economy to undertake concrete, public and verifiable commitments to reduce their overall carbon footprint, to produce and market more sustainable products and to redouble their efforts towards raising the awareness of consumers about the impact of their consumption choices. On January 25, 2021 the Pilot Phase of the Green Consumption Pledge was launched at an online event.
