New Delhi: Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said that the Sixth IPCC Synthesis report endorsed India’s call for equity and climate justice and confirmed the climate change as one of the key environmental challenges facing humanity.
Welcoming the report the Minister said the summarizes the state of knowledge of climate change, its widespread impacts and risks, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The Synthesis Report also confirmed that India, despite being home to more than 17% of the global population, has contributed less than 4% of the global cumulative CO2 emissions.
The Synthesis Report states that historical emissions have already depleted more than four-fifths of the global carbon budget and have thereby constrained the options available for climate resilient development for other countries and this includes India.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was adopted by all member countries on 19th March 2023 at the 58th Session of the IPCC at Interlaken, Switzerland, integrates the main findings of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) based on contributions from the three Working Groups, and the three Special Reports.
The Minister said the Report echoes Prime Minister’s vision for “LiFE”, or Lifestyle for Environment, which is a global mass movement for promoting environmental friendly lifestyle to protect and preserve the environment.
The IPCC report recognised the interdependence of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societies; the value of diverse forms of knowledge; and the close linkages between climate change adaptation, mitigation, ecosystem health, human well-being and sustainable development, and reflects the increasing diversity of actors involved in climate action.
It re-emphasizes India’s consistently held position that development is our first defense against climate change and that urgent and rapid climate actions are needed by the developed countries based on the principles of climate justice and equity, both in terms of emissions reduction and the mobilizing of finance and making available the latest technology to the developing countries.
The report reinforced the scientific view that CO2 is the primary GHG and needs to be drastically reduced.
It mentions that for every 1000 GtCO2 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).
The remaining carbon budgets from the beginning of 2020 are 500 GtCO2 for a 50% likelihood of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and 1150 GtCO2 for a 67% likelihood of limiting warming to below 2°C.
Reaching net zero CO2 or GHG emissions primarily requires deep and rapid reductions in gross emissions of CO2, as well as substantial reductions of non-CO2 GHG emissions.
Climate justice and equity are important enablers for ensuring climate action and growth and development for developing countries.
The Report notes that modelled scenarios explore only a limited number of solutions, and warns against mistaking them for predictions or forecasts.
The scientists also confirm that models do not explicitly account for equity, environmental justice, and income distribution – all crucial factors in climate policy decisions.
The Report notes that finance flows from developed to developing countries fall short of the levels needed to meet climate goals across all sectors and regions.
It also acknowledges that in 2018, public and publicly mobilized private climate finance flows from developed to developing countries were below the collective goal under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement to mobilize USD100 billion per year by 2020 in the context of meaningful mitigation action and transparency on implementation.
The Report noted that Climate change has caused widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people that are unequally distributed across systems, regions and sectors.
The Synthesis Report echoed Prime Minister’s vision for “LiFE”, or Lifestyle for Environment, which is a global mass movement for promoting environmental friendly lifestyle to protect and preserve the environment.
The report noted with high confidence that many options are available for reducing emission-intensive consumption, including through behavioral and lifestyle changes, with co-benefits for societal well-being.
