IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report

• The Synthesis Report is the culmination of a cycle of reports of the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Cycle that have been published over the past five years.
• Its aim is to provide policymakers up-to-date understanding of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and highlight solutions to address it.

Findings

• Excess emissions from human activities have raised global temperature by 1.1°C above 1850-1900.
• Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) announced by countries make it likely that warming will exceed 1.5°C during the 21st century.
• For every 1000 Gt CO₂ emitted by human activity, global surface temperature rises by 0.45°C (best estimate, with a likely range from 0.27 to 0.63°C).
• Losses and damages will disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable populations, particularly those in Africa and least-developed countries, creating more poverty.

Recommendations

• The world must rapidly shift away from burning fossil fuels.
• A mix of strategies can help avoid locking in the carbon emissions, including retiring existing fossil fuel infrastructure, canceling new projects, retrofitting fossil-fueled power plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and scaling up renewable energy sources like solar and wind.
• There is a need for urgent, system wide transformations to secure a net-zero, climate-resilient future.
• Deep emission cuts are necessary across all of society to combat the climate crisis

About Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

• An intergovernmental organization created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland
• Aim-To provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies.
• IPCC is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change.
• Membership: 195 members including India.
• Other Key information:
  • Prepares Assessment Reports, special reports, and methodology reports assessing the state of knowledge of climate change.
  • However, it does not itself engage in scientific research.
  • In 2007, the IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.