“It's Now or Never” on Global Warming - IPCC's Working Group III Makes Findings Public

The Sixth Assessment Report (AR65) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Report on Climate Change (IPCC) is nearing publication later this year after being delayed for two years. These assessments, as presented in the final report, are a synthesis of the thousands of comments, findings, and perspectives from literally hundreds of experts involved in the preparation. These experts from around the world, from various disciplines and organizations are assembled in designated working groups with specific charters for their work.

The last assessment from the IPCC, AR5, was issued in October 2014 and forecasted alarming impacts of climate change on our global society. With the deadline nearing for the final AR6 report release, the experts from Working Group III have released the results of their work in more than 3,000 pages. This group focuses on climate change mitigation, assessing methods for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and removing GHG from the Earth’s atmosphere.

Top headlines from Working Group III: “It’s now or never” to limit global warming, according to a report co-chair. “Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.”  The Working Group III findings also say that existing and planned fossil fuel projects are more than the planet can handle. The possible steps to reduce carbon emissions, and to capture carbon, are set out in great detail.

A note of caution in considering the findings shared:  Working Group III supports the IPCC’s overall solution-oriented approach to limiting global warming but does not advocate for specific mitigation options – it sets out “possibilities” for the public sector to consider.

The IPCC Sixth Assessment final report will contain the contributions of three Working Groups: Group I deals with the physical science basis of climate change; Group II with impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability; Group III with mitigation of climate change. The work of each group is submitted for approval to the IPPC for inclusion in the final assessment report, which is coming later this year.

In our Top Stories this week you will find news and shared perspectives related to the contributions of Working Group III to the final report. We look forward to keeping you updated on these findings and sharing the insights of the G&A team.

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