Despite
climate change warnings issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) since 1990, global emissions have continued to rise in the last decade,
reaching their highest point in history.  The result:
global emissions are on track to blow past the 1.5 degrees C warming limit
envisioned in the 2015 Paris Agreement and reach some 3.2 degrees C by
century's end. "We
left COP26 in Glasgow with a naive optimism, based on new promises and
commitments," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said with the report's
release. "But current climate pledges would (still) mean a 14 percent increase
in emissions. And most major emitters are not taking the steps needed to
fulfill even these inadequate promises." At this
point, only severe emissions cuts in this decade across all sectors, from
agriculture and transport to energy and buildings, can turn things around, the
report says. Even then, governments would also need to bolster efforts to plant
more trees and develop technologies that could remove some of the carbon
dioxide already in the atmosphere after more than a century of industrial
activity.  "It's
now or never," IPCC report co-chair Jim Skea said in a statement with the
report – the last in a three-part series by the IPCC, with the next review
cycle not expected for at least another five years. DRAMA AND
DELAY While other
recent IPCC reports addressed the latest findings in climate change science as
well as ways for the world to adapt to a warmer world, Monday’s tackled ways of
curbing emissions – making it one of the more contentious reports of the pack
for governments. Some
scientists described the process as "excruciating," and the IPCC was
forced to delay the report's public release by six hours on Monday. Final
approval of the report's key summary for policymakers - which requires sign-off
from all countries - followed a marathon weekend overtime session as government
officials quibbled over the wording. "Different
countries have different interests," IPCC co-author and climate scientist
Jan Minx. "Everyone wants to make sure that their concerns are addressed
... but scientists have the last word."