The latest climate change assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is out.

It says that

• Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society, including land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities.
• There are clear benefits to people and natural ecosystems from limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to 2°C, which could go hand in hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable society.
• We are already seeing the consequences of 1°C of global warming through more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice.

The report will be a key scientific input into the Katowice Climate Change Conference in Poland in December, when governments review the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change.

According to the Panel, “the next few years are probably the most important in our history“.

Read the press release here. The Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR15) is available at https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15 or www.ipcc.ch

There is also extensive coverage in The Guardian (including the impact of increased flooding on the world’s cities) and reaction from the Aldersgate Group.

This interactive from Carbon Brief nicely shows the difference between a 1.5C world, compared to a 2C world, in terms of droughts, biodiversity, health and other areas.

Meanwhile, a new report entitled: “What Lies Beneath: The understatement of existential climate risk” authored by David Spratt and Ian Dunlop, has just been released via the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration in Melbourne, Australia.

It collates what scientists, decision-makers and other stakeholders have been saying, often behind closed doors, about the culture of failure and scientific reticence in which climate policy-making has become embedded. It says that IPCC reports “tend toward reticence and caution, erring on the side of “least drama”, and downplaying the more extreme and more damaging outcomes. This is dangerously misleading with the acceleration of climate impacts globally”.

The report is available at: https://www.breakthroughonline.org.au