The IPCC Synthesis Report warns that the world is on track to breach the 1.5-degree Celsius global warming limit by the 2030s, which would cause irrevocable damage to the planet’s ecosystem and severely impact humans and other living beings.

What is IPCC Synthesis Report?

• The IPCC Synthesis Report is a summary report produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that presents key findings and policy recommendations from the group’s previous assessment reports.
• It aims to provide policymakers with a concise overview of the current state of knowledge on climate change, its impacts, and options for mitigation and adaptation.
• The Synthesis Report is released at the end of each assessment cycle, which typically takes six to seven years, and is approved by representatives from the IPCC’s member governments.

Key highlights of the synthesis report

• Climate extremes on rise: Due to the current global warming levels, almost every region across the planet is already experiencing climate extremes, an uptick in deaths due to heatwaves, reduced food and water security, and damage to ecosystems, causing mass extinction of species on land and in the ocean.
• High vulnerability: More than three billion people live in areas that are “highly vulnerable” to climate change.
• Boost up climate finance: The largest gaps in climate finance are in the developing world, but so too are the largest opportunities.

Key concerns raised

The report highlights the urgent need for-

• Limiting the use of fossil fuels
• Increasing finance to climate investments
• Expanding the clean energy infrastructure,
• Reducing nitrogen pollution from agriculture, curtail food waste, and
• Adopting measures to make it easier for people to lead low-carbon lifestyles

Conclusion

• The report adds that there is still a chance to avert this mass-scale destruction, but it would require an enormous global effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and completely phase them out by 2050.

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