As the crucial COP26 in Glasgow kicks off Parties have two weeks to work on an effective climate action strategy. Keeping a 1.5°C temperature increase within reach, adaptation, finance and collaboration are the key issues at the most important climate summit since the COP21 in Paris.
The IPCC’s press release detailing all essential information on the Working Group I report, the first instalment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which will be completed in 2022.
In the new IPCC report scientists have made more accurate and reliable assertions on the extent, causes and future of our changing climate. As the crucial COP26 in Glasgow approaches, their assessment of the physical science of climate change may well act as a much-needed wake-up call. “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land [and that] changes in the climate system have become larger in direct relation to increasing global warming,” reads the report.
Reaching the Paris Agreement requires a global effort to step up ambition and lower emissions. “Even if Europe, China and the US manage to go carbon neutral, which would be a major achievement, it still leaves us far from the 2-degrees goal of the Paris Agreement”, explains director of the RFF-CMCC partnership Massimo Tavoni. “To increase ambition carbon border adjustment measures have been proposed. But they are risky and might not be compatible with a just transition.”
The United Nations have long recognized that sport can help promote sustainable development. With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics currently underway, organizers have seized the opportunity to showcase how the sporting world can be sustainable, setting the bar for future Olympics and sporting events.
The sharing economy is often touted as a win-win solution for both environmental problems and economic efficiency. However, new studies give a fresh perspective on just how much sharing helps reduce our carbon footprint. Some of their findings are surprising.
With the annual intersessional UN climate talk taking place online, and mired with technical difficulties, delegates are eager to get back to in person meetings. However, in three weeks of virtual discussions, little headway was made leaving all decision making to the COP26 in Glasgow.
Policy is the key to contrasting the worst effects of climate change. Analysing the impact of climate laws implemented by the G7 nations on their overall emissions gives a clear indication of how important policy measures are in the fight against climate change.
Climate change is exacerbating problems such as habitat loss and extreme temperature fluctuations. With one in four species currently under threat of extinction, understanding which ones are better equipped to adapt, and hence survive, can provide valuable information for conservation efforts and policy choices.
More data and knowledge to the service of decision makers can help make Europe a fully climate resilient continent by mid-century. The new European Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change aims to lead the world by example and calls for more consideration of the transboundary effects of climate impacts and for a ‘smarter, more systemic and swifter’ adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
Talking about the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation (ETC/CCA) means unfolding the evolution of knowledge, policy processes, actions and awareness on adaptation in Europe, from their first steps to the implementation of the new EU Climate Adaptation Strategy. We explore the story of this long collaboration between the ETC/CCA and the European Environment Agency in a journey at the interface between science and policy.
Glaciers account for approximately 70% of all freshwater stored on the planet. From Latin America to the Himalayas, New Zealand and the European Alps, climate change is causing most glaciers to retreat at unprecedented rates with many experts sounding the alarm on water security.
