World reacts to the IPCC’s blunt assessment on the climate crisis: ‘Everything, everywhere, all at once’

“Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” is not only the title of a multi-Oscar winning movie but also how United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres summed up what global climate action should look like in the next seven years.

A broad cross-section of society – from global leaders and business figures to scientists, NGOs, activists and parenting groups – reacted on Monday to the most conclusive warning yet from the world’s leading climate science panel that only a brief window remains to stave off catastrophic levels of global heating.

The final “synthesis report”, published on Monday by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), pulls together top lines from six, IPCC reports in the past five years that analyzed thousands of scientific papers.

“This Synthesis Report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that, if we act now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all,” said IPCC Chair Hoesung-Lee.

The report is clear that only if transformative shifts are made across society to cut planet-heating emissions by 2030, can the average global temperature be held to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7F). (The world has warmed 1.1C (2F) since industrialized countries began burning oil, gas and coal 200 years ago.)

The pace and scale of what has been done so far, and plans in the works, are far from enough. Meanwhile, the challenge grows by the day as emissions continue to rise.

At the current level of emissions, humanity will blow past the 1.5C target in the coming decade. To avoid this emissions, largely caused by burning fossil fuels, need to be decreasing now and roughly cut in half in the next seven years.

“Humanity is on thin ice — and that ice is melting fast,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday. “Our world needs climate action on all fronts — everything, everywhere, all at once.”

US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said that the IPCC’s message was “abundantly clear”.

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“We have made progress but not enough. We have the tools to stave off and reduce the risks of the worst impacts of the climate crisis, but we have to take advantage of this moment to act now,” he tweeted.

Madeleine Diouf Sarr, chair of the UN’s Least Developed Countries Group which represents more than one billion people across Africa, the Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean, said in a statement that “the poor and vulnerable are bearing the brunt of our collective failure to act”.

People wade through flood waters caused by last week’s heavy rains caused by Tropical Cyclone Freddy in Phalombe, southern Malawi on Saturday. Authorities are still getting to grips with destruction in Malawi and Mozambique with over 370 people confirmed dead and several hundreds still displaced or missing (AP)

“Just last week, Cyclone Freddy resulted in hundreds of deaths and displaced thousands of people in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar. The world cannot ignore the human cost of inaction,” she continued.

“We know what the solutions are. Renewables, storage, electrification – they are already gaining place in many parts of the world. But not enough. We need to move faster, with rich countries leading the way.”

A number of mothers from parenting groups worldwide also called for more urgent action.

Aydah Akao, a mother from the Solomon Islands and the coordinator of the Network for the Indigenous Peoples Solomon, said: “In the Solomon Islands, we are already living climate change every day. We want to continue living on the islands. This is our home. Our parents and forefathers have lived here. Cyclones and extreme weather are becoming more frequent. The schools are very close to the shore. In extreme weather, waves reach close to the classrooms. What kind of future will our children grow up in?”

Bhavreen Kandhari from Warrior Moms in India stated: “This report needs to trigger bold and decisive action to protect our planet and the future of our children. Fossil fuels are damaging our children’s health now, and robbing them of their futures. Today every third child in Delhi has damaged lungs from air polluted by fossil fuels. Our children need a rapid and just transition to life-saving clean, renewable energy. We are determined to keep fighting for our children and their right to breathe clean air and grow up on a healthy planet.”

How future generations will experience the climate crisis depending on the decisions that are made this decade (IPCC)

And Mariana Menezes, from Familias Pelo Clima in Brazil added: “The effects of climate change in Brazil are already being felt unequivocally and we cannot let this scenario get worse. In February, on the coast of São Paulo we had the heaviest rainfall ever recorded. Dozens of people died and thousands lost their homes. Children are traumatized and have not attended classes for weeks because their schools have been covered in mud. In various parts of Brazil, every day the fear of what heavy rains can cause is growing. For us and for all the children who cannot defend their own future, we cannot abandon the 1.5C target. World leaders need to listen to science and act fast.”

Alongside the impacts on people, the climate crisis is taking an extreme toll on the natural world. Hundreds of species have been lost at the local level, the IPCC reports, while mass mortality events have been recorded on land and in the ocean.

Dr Stephen Cornelius, WWF Global Deputy Lead Climate and Energy, noted that “nature is our secret ally in the fight against climate change” pointing out that the natural world has absorbed more than half of human-caused carbon emissions in the past ten years.

“We can’t hope to limit warming to 1.5C, adapt to climate change and save lives and livelihoods, unless we also act urgently to safeguard and restore nature. Nature is a non-negotiable part of the solution to the climate crisis,” he added.

Meanwhile Ani Dasgupta, president and CEO of the global research non-profit World Resources Institute, called the report “both a blistering condemnation of major emitters’ inaction and a sound blueprint for a much safer and more equitable world”.

“IPCC scientists don’t mince words on the biggest threat to humanity: continuing to burn fossil fuels. Despite the rapid growth of renewable energy, fossil fuels still account for over 80% of the world’s energy and over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Without a radical shift away from fossil fuels over the next few years, the world is certain to blow past the 1.5 C goal. The IPCC makes plain that continuing to build new unabated fossil fuel power plants would seal that fate.

He continued: ““Despite their dire warnings, the IPCC offers reasons to be hopeful. The report shows a narrow path to secure a livable future if we rapidly correct course. This involves deep emission reductions from every sector of the economy, as well as much greater investments to build resilience to climate impacts and support for people facing unavoidable climate losses and damage.”