23 Mar Green leaders respond to the latest IPCC climate report

Industry members within the green economy have urged global leaders and businesses to embrace the latest IPCC climate report, warning that the time available for effective and equitable action is closing rapidly. 

This week the IPCC announced its latest report, highlighting specific findings on global warming and the impact of the climate challenge in a targeted document for policymakers. Some industry members have referred to the report as the final warning, stressing that the time to achieve emissions reductions to avoid significant climate impacts is running out and that efforts to adapt to climate change will become more challenging and expensive. The next sequence of IPCC reporting won’t be until the 2030s, by which time the global emissions must half to enable the best chance of meeting Paris Agreements targets. The report is also referred to as a “survival guide for humanity”, focusing on recommendations for policy changes. 

Environmental Ministers worldwide will meet in Copenhagen later this week for the first discussions around COP28. The UN secretary-general Antonia Guterres explains that the climate time bomb may be upon us but the latest IPCC report is a step-by-step guide to defusing this climate issue. Guterres refers to it as a survival guide for humanity.

Richard Black, the senior associate of the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), explains that one of the most prominent statements is how climate change threatens our well-being and planetary health and that there is a narrowing window of opportunity to create a secure and sustainable future for all.

The declining costs of clean energy and the impacts of the war in Ukraine provide even more reasons for governments to focus on climate action and ensure this is a pivotal time for decarbonisation.

Nina Seega, the director of the centre for sustainable finance at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, explains there is enough capital available to reduce investment gaps. Accessing this, however, requires positioning climate in every financial decision. This requires pricing climate-related financial risks, increasing investments and providing insurance for climate-resilient solutions for managing and adapting worldwide.

To drive additional private finance, public finance and policy action are necessary to eliminate investment barriers. There is an opportunity for financial leaders to collaborate and better align the financial system to a net-zero, nature-positive and equitable economy. 

Alex Scott, the programme lead for climate diplomacy and geopolitics, believes this is a wake-up call for finance leaders. According to Scott, the existing financial system isn’t suitably equipped for the climate crisis, explaining that fossil fuel investments and a lack of capital available for clean alternatives and climate defences are making economies and our natural systems particularly vulnerable.

We require a structured system capable of reducing the significant climate financing gap and stabilising countries financially to manage economic and climate disruption.

The IPCC has made it clear that governments must make bolder commitments immediately to accelerate climate mitigation which involves eliminating fossil fuels. We require a coordinated approach to drive progress, and the IPCC report provides the necessary framework. The responsibility now lies with policymakers, investors and businesses working together and leading the necessary changes. Rapidly deploying green energy is one of the most critical steps we can take to control global temperature increases, and done correctly, it will end our dependence on fossil fuels and generate broader economic benefits and employment opportunities.