IPCC Meet in Switzerland and Synthesis Report: Important Facts

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is set to organize meeting in Switzerland to finalize the Synthesis Report, which will summarize the findings of the IPCC’s previous five reports and address policy-relevant scientific questions related to climate change. The report will emphasize meeting the 1.5-degree Celsius target as the main global goal. The Synthesis Report is expected to provide a non-technical summary of the previous reports, which were released during the sixth assessment cycle since 2018.

The Synthesis Report’s Release and its Importance

The Synthesis Report is aimed at policymakers around the world, and its release on March 20 this year will be followed by a ministerial-level meeting in Copenhagen to discuss ways to implement the decisions taken at last year’s climate meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh. The report will also be discussed at the UN 2023 Water Conference, with climate change as one of the most important agendas. This is aimed at building the atmosphere for more ambitious agreements at this year’s climate conference in Dubai, scheduled towards the end of the year.

Climate Change and its Impact

Climate science is well-established, and its impacts are already visible, with extreme weather events becoming the norm. It is predicted to be among the warmest years ever, with February in India this year being the hottest ever, and unusually hot weather continuing in many parts of the country. Climate impacts have already begun to hurt population groups in several other parts of the world.

Countries’ Action on Climate Change

Despite repeated predictions of an impending catastrophe, countries have taken little to no steps to counter climate crisis. The current level of actions is not even commensurate with the effort required to meet the 2-degree Celsius target. There is disagreement even on something as basic as a commitment to phase out fossil fuels, one of the main contributors to global warming.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2023

Category: Environment Current Affairs • International / World Current Affairs