The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the third installment of its Sixth Assessment Report dedicated to climate change mitigation. The report comes at a critical time, as countries need to set clear expectations on climate ambition to meet commitments under the Glasgow Climate Pact and the Paris Agreement.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the third installment of its Sixth Assessment Report dedicated to climate change mitigation. The report comes at a critical time, as countries need to set clear expectations on climate ambition to meet commitments under the Glasgow Climate Pact and the Paris Agreement.
The document provides solid scientific evidence to accelerate global efforts to reduce emissions in the current decade. Among the main conclusions, the group of experts indicates that anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases have continued to rise in the decade 2010-2019. Thus, the average annual emissions during this period have been the highest recorded to date. This increase has been recorded in the main sectors, with a significant increase in emissions in urban areas.
The text states that substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will be required in all sectors, including deep transitions in the different production systems. In this sense, it includes the fundamental role that renewable energies can play and also recalls the reduction in costs experienced in the last decade, which makes them affordable and competitive sources of energy. In fact, he stresses that maintaining emissions-intensive systems in some regions can be more expensive than transitioning to low-emission systems.
Another key aspect of the document is the highlighting of the role of the circular economy and carbon dioxide removal technologies in dealing with residual greenhouse gas emissions in sectors that are difficult to decarbonise, while analysing the associated risks.
Part of the analysis of the text focuses on the need to introduce changes in lifestyles to reduce emissions, pointing out as examples the commitment to active mobility, changes in diet or the reduction of energy demand, among others.
RISK ANALYSIS
The document points out that many of the risks – technological, scalability or cost – faced by any mitigation strategy are significantly reduced by applying models based on resource efficiency.
On the other hand, the text foresees that assets associated with coal are at risk of losing their economic value before 2030, while those of oil and gas will do so by the middle of this century.
As a novelty, the report analyses the increasingly important role of non-governmental actors such as cities, businesses, indigenous peoples and young people in tackling climate change.
WORKING FOR MITIGATION
The analysis also highlights the interdependence between mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development and underscores the need to ensure the participation of all actors in inclusive and transparent decision-making processes.
Coordinated and integrated adaptation and mitigation policies across sectors will improve the outcomes of climate action. The absence or limitation of financial, technical and human resources in social and institutional systems can lead to poorly coordinated responses, reduce mitigation and adaptation benefits and increase risks.
The report also reviews the state of financial flows for mitigation and adaptation and points to a reduction in their average growth since 2018. In this context, it highlights how these financial flows continued to be focused on mitigation, although with uneven trends between regions and sectors. On a positive note, the report notes that markets for green bonds and other sustainable financial products have expanded considerably since the Fifth Assessment Report in 2014.
SPANISH CONTRIBUTION
Four Spanish experts have worked on the preparation of the third installment of the report. Scientists such as Luisa Cabeza, from the University of Lleida; Alejandro Caparrós, from the CSIC; Laura Díaz Anadón, from the University of Cambridge, and Xavier Labandeira, from the University of Vigo, have collaborated by contributing their experience in chapters on buildings and construction, international cooperation, innovation and transfer of technological development and national and subnational institutions and policies, among others.
The IPCC assessment reports are the best international reference on the state of scientific knowledge on climate change. These documents are prepared thanks to the collaborative and selfless work of thousands of top-level scientists from the different fields of knowledge.
To date, the IPCC has produced assessment reports in 1990, 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2014. For the realization of this last installment, scientific knowledge on the subject has been exhaustively analyzed, in addition to taking into account other forms of knowledge, such as indigenous and local knowledge, in the processes of climate change mitigation.
