IPCC Report Sparks Need For Climate Action Planning
/The Latest IPCC Climate Change Mitigation Report
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is the scientific group of the United Nations charged with monitoring and assessing all scientific developments, globally, on climate change. On April 4, 2022, the IPCC issued its third report on climate change, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change, expanding the findings of its previous report released in February 2022. These reports, and a fourth Synthesis Report to be released later this year, comprise the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).
The latest IPCC climate report shows that GHG emissions continue to rise, and current plans to address climate change are not aggressive enough to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels - the accepted scientific threshold. The IPCC’s conclusions are clear - we must accelerate the global transition to clean energy and reach “net zero” GHG emissions as soon as possible. What the latest IPCC report demonstrates is that we not only need to reduce our emissions significantly, but we also have to remove some of the carbon that is already in the atmosphere from past emissions through increased deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods.
The report further states that measures such as demand-side mitigation (including changes in infrastructure use, end-use technology adoption, and socio-cultural and behavioral change) can reduce global GHG emissions by 40-70% by 2050 compared to baseline scenarios.
2022 Second IPCC Report Issues Strong Warning
“The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future.”
On February 28, 2022, the IPCC released the second part of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, which explores the way in which vulnerable communities around the world experience the impacts of climate change, to ways similar to those expressed by climate justice advocates around the world, the IPCC acknowledges that vulnerable communities including indigenous populations and low-income communities are negatively impacted, the most by climate change as they experience food shortages, inclement weather, and biodiversity loss, with little support from countries which are the highest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. For example, the report states that weather and climate extreme events have exposed millions of people to acute food insecurity and reduced water security, increasing malnutrition in many communities.
The second IPCC AR6 report also acknowledges that trauma from weather and climate extreme events will lead to loss of livelihoods and culture, which will contribute to mental health challenges in affected regions. The report states that “approximately 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in countries and regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change, exposing large populations to potential violent intrastate conflicts and increased migration.
Takeaways from the IPCC 2021 Climate Science Report
On August 9, 2021, the IPCC released the first part of the AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, which reaffirmed the scientific conclusion that rise in the global temperature and climate change as we have experienced it would not have happed without human influence. The 2021 AR6 Report, furthermore, presented the near-linear relationship between greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and global warming.
The 2021 report released some critical observations about the state of the world, after tracking trends over the last few decades. One such observation was made regarding the Arctic in the period 2011-2020, where annual Arctic Sea Levels reached their lowest point since at least 1850, while global mean sea level has risen faster since 1900 than over any preceding century in at least the last 3000 years.
With each additional increment of global warming, the 2021 IPCC AR6 predicted that the frequency of extreme weather events increases; every additional 0.5°C of global warming is expected to cause visible changes to weather patterns, including heatwaves, heavy precipitation, and agricultural and ecological droughts. The UN scientists of the IPCC found that “evidence of observed changes in extremes such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones, and, in particular, their attribution to human influence, has strengthened since AR5.”
The IPCC predicted that the anticipated warming patterns would have vast ramifications across the globe, from disrupting manufacturing supply chains to droughts that could negatively affect food supply. The 2021 IPCC AR6 elaborated on the anticipation of the IPCC scientists that climate change will intensify very wet and very dry weather, with projections for flooding and droughts to only get worse. The effects of climate change are expected to vary, based on geographical location, with the report noting that certain parts of Asia and West Africa will see increased monsoon precipitation while marine heatwaves would continue to increase in the tropical oceans and Arctic.
What Does the IPCC Report Mean for Companies and Investors?
The latest IPCC AR6 report has re-affirmed the scientific knowledge of the last 30 years and confirmed the importance of the requirements of the Paris Agreement which set a net-zero carbon global for the year 2050.
While the situation might seem helpless without massive change, taking the first steps of cutting emissions is essential. Through strategic, practical climate action planning, companies can progress toward their net-zero goal, meeting investor expectations and improving their market positioning and profitability, while contributing to a healthier planet.
Now is the Time for Bold Climate Action
Climate action planning starts with an accurate assessment of a company’s GHG emissions and the establishment of an appropriate Baseline Year.
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is a globally accepted method for assessing GHG emissions. It addresses GHG emissions from 3 sources, referred to as scopes:
Scope 1 refers to all direct emissions from the company or company-controlled sources.
Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions such as those from electricity, heating and cooling, and steam that are being utilized.
Scope 3 encompasses all other indirect emissions that the company uses but do not fit into Scope 1 and 2. For instance, Scope 3 emissions can be mileage from employees going to work or traveling due to work business. It also includes assets that are not owned or controlled by the company.
The establishment of the Baseline Year is critical, as any Carbon Action Plan will base its GHG reduction goals on the GHG emissions accounted for during the Baseline Year. Most importantly, a company’s or organization’s success in reducing its GHG emissions and meeting its net-zero targets will be assessed against its “starting point” – the Baseline Year’s GHG emissions.
Performing an audit, validation, and assurance of GHG emissions is a critical step in confirming the accuracy of the GHG information.
The Climate Action Plan focuses on the risks and opportunities that climate change may present to a corporation. Under the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Guidance, performing a Climate Scenario Analysis (CSA) is the recommended best practice to undertake for assessing risks and opportunities related to climate change.
Finally, the Decarbonization Strategy of a corporation will need to address three issues:
Optimize the use of energy.
Evaluate and incorporate new technologies now and in the future.
Assess the purchase of carbon credits as a stop-gap measure, until technological advancements can transition a company’s operations in the future to a fossil-free state, so it can achieve its net-zero target on its own.
Ultimately, the 2022 second and third IPCC AR6 reports are a call for companies and government agencies alike to cut their GHG emissions. Without clear goals and structures in place to implement the sweeping changes required to transition our 200-year-old reliance on fossil fuels to sustainable ways of living and prospering, it will be impossible to meet base-case scenarios for the socio-economic pathways listed in the IPCC report. Environmental action occurs in conjunction with economic considerations, and although costs may appear high to tackle carbon reduction goals, the cost of non-action is predicted to be much greater.
The IPCC report encourages swift and adaptive action, which can appear daunting to organizations. KERAMIDA provides Sustainability and Climate Action services, including ESG strategy, benchmarking, materiality assessment, sustainability reporting, GHG inventories, assurance services, SBTi, ESG audits, climate scenario analysis, and decarbonization strategies. Please contact us or call (800) 508-8034 to speak with one of our professionals today.
Blog Authors
Vicky Keramida, Ph.D.
CEO & Chief Technical Officer
KERAMIDA Inc.
Contact Vicky at keramida@keramida.com
