Unpacking the IPCC 6th Synthesis Report: The survival guide for humanity

On 20th March 2023, at Interlaken in Switzerland, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its AR6 Synthesis Report, which calls for urgent climate action to secure a livable future for all.

This article is dedicated to unpacking the issues from a scientific perspective to an ordinary and relatable understanding in an attempt to call on all to take action to address the climate crisis.

The IPCC can best be appreciated as the United Nations (UN) body for assessing the science related to climate change.

It was established by the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide political leaders with periodic scientific assessments about climate change.

IPCC assessments provide governments, at all levels, with the scientific information they can use to develop climate policies.

IPCC assessments are a key input into the international negotiations to tackle climate change. IPCC reports are drafted and reviewed in several stages to guarantee accuracy, objectivity and transparency.

The sixth Synthesis report is the final summary of previous reports in a cycle of copious reports from the assessment of thousands of published works on climate change which focuses on different areas such as the physical science of climate change, adaptation and mitigation.

This particular report is once again ringing the alarm bells louder that the current pace and scale of actions are insufficient to address climate change. It provides that "keeping global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels requires deep, rapid and sustained greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors and across the world."

The report further establishes that every increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards. More intense heatwaves, heavier rainfall and other extreme weather conditions further increase risks for human health and ecosystems. In every region, people are dying from extreme heat.

Climate-driven food and water insecurity is expected to increase with increased warming. When the risks combine with other adverse events, such as pandemics or conflicts, they become even more difficult to manage.

So what else does this report tells us? It tells us that our continuous human failure to cut down greenhouse gas emissions is escalating the climate crisis.

The report is equally calling for governments to invest heavily in early warning systems as part of climate adaptation strategies and to embrace fully the tenets of loss and damage such that countries and people most affected by the climate change crisis can be provided with the most immediate and impactful support systems to recover and to live a better life.

Despite the frustrations and alarms cited, the report can also be viewed as a welcome message of hope, that humanity has the technology, knowledge and finance needed to reduce greenhouse gases and as noted by the IPCC Chair, Hoesung Lee, "the report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that if we act now, we can still secure a livable sustainable future for all."

Speaking after the release of the report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the report is a survival guide for the world. This underscores the crucial role that the report plays in helping countries, multinationals, companies, communities and individuals to confront their individual and collective roles in addressing climate change and it is hoped that they will act on it and take action for a more livable world.

The writer, Cedric Dzelu, is the Youth Focal Person, AACJ, YMCA Climate Change Ambassador. [email protected]