IPCC Secretary Abdalah Mokssit
WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas
IPCC Chair, Prof. Hoesung Lee
My thanks to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Chair, ExCom, Bureau, authors, and Secretariat for their work during the sixth assessment cycle, which has culminated in this, the Summary for Policy Makers of the Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Cycle. Congratulations.
What does this Synthesis Report tell us? It tells us that climate change is here, now. That climate change is a threat to human and planetary well-being, which are one and the same. That we are very close to the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit, and that even this limit is not safe for people and planet. That climate change is throwing its hardest punches at the vulnerable communities who bear the least responsibility – as we saw with Cyclone Freddy in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar and flash floods in Türkiye, which together killed hundreds of people.
The report tells us that our collective failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions leaves us on track to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming. And that continuing to march down this track will bring further intensification of extreme weather, ecosystem degradation and damage to lives and livelihoods.
We must turn down the heat. And we must help vulnerable communities adapt to those impacts of climate change that are already here. This synthesis report, which chimes with UNEP’s own research, tell us we already have the technology and know-how to get both these jobs done.
Renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. Energy efficiency. Green transport. Green urban infrastructure. Halting deforestation. Ecosystem restoration. Sustainable food systems, including reduced food loss and waste. Investing in these areas, and more besides, will help to stabilize our climate. Reduce nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste – the other two prongs of the triple planetary crisis. Deliver many other benefits: from cleaner air and healthier nature to decent jobs and more equity. It’s the ultimate no-brainer.
Ahead of us this year lie the UN Climate Action Summit, the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement and COP28 in the United Arab Emirates. These will undoubtedly be important moments to set the tone for action in the second half of this critical decade. But if there is one key takeaway from this synthesis report – for nations, businesses, investors, and every individual who contributes to climate change – it is this: we must move from climate procrastination to climate activation. And we must do it today.
