Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society and technology innovation according to the latest 400 pages Special Report from the world's leading body of climate change experts.
The Paris Agreement adopted by 195 nations at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC in December 2015 included the aim of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change by "holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels."
As part of the decision to adopt the Paris Agreement, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was invited to produce, in 2018, a Special Report on global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways. The IPCC accepted the invitation, adding that the Special Report would look at these issues in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.
The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C was approved by the IPCC on October 6, 2018 in Incheon, Republic of Korea. It will be a key scientific input into the Katowice Climate Change Conference - COP 24 - in Poland in December, when governments review the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change.
The report is available at http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/
Ninety-one authors and review editors from 40 countries prepared the IPCC report in response to an invitation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) when it adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015. "With more than 6,000 scientific references cited and the dedicated contribution of thousands of expert and government reviewers worldwide, this important report testifies to the breadth and policy relevance of the IPCC," said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC.
"One of the key messages that comes out very strongly from this report is that we are already seeing the consequences of 1°C of global warming through more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes," said Panmao Zhai, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group I.
The report highlights a number of climate change impacts that could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to 2°C, or more. Chapter 4 of the Special Report available at http://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_chapter4.pdf focuses on the role of technological innovation, technology transfers in limiting warming to 1.5ºC, and how innovation can contribute to strengthening implementation to move towards or to adapt to 1.5ºC.