Governments are to face renewed calls for dramatic action to tackle climate change as a major report on limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C is published.
Scientists and representatives of 195 governments meeting in South Korea have approved a report on the impact of a rise of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels and the action needed to limit global warming to that level.
The finalised report, to be published on Monday, will sound a warning about the speed and scale of measures required to keep temperature rises to a level beyond which many vulnerable countries say their survival is at risk.
It will prompt new calls for dramatic and urgent steps to cut emissions to zero by 2050.
That would mean an end to burning fossil fuels to generate power, the replacement of petrol and diesel cars with electric vehicles or other clean alternatives and no more gas boilers to heat homes, in just a few decades.
Scientists have also warned that protecting and restoring forests will be key to cutting carbon and drawing down excess emissions from the atmosphere.
In addition, concerns have been raised about relying on unproved technology to take emissions out of the atmosphere to bring down temperatures again if the world exceeds the 1.5C mark.
The world is already experiencing around 1C of global warming, and events such as floods, storms and heatwaves like the one in the UK this summer have become increasingly likely as a result of climate change, according to experts.
While previous assessments looked at a range of scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions and what they would mean for the planet, this new study will spell out to governments that they are not doing enough – and what they need to do.
With the promises countries have made so far to cut their emissions putting the world on track for 3C of warming by the end of the century, the report will throw into stark relief the scale of the challenge.
The science shows letting temperature rises climb more than 1.5C will lead to sea level rises, an increase in heavy rainstorms and heatwaves, more people facing water scarcity and drought, greater spread of diseases and more economic losses.
Ahead of its publication, Neil Thorns, director of advocacy at charity Cafod, said: “This report proves that keeping global temperatures to 1.5C is a necessity, not an ambition.
“Faced with such information we cannot leave poor communities standing on the front-line of this potential storm, we must act urgently.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel