The event, co-organized by WCRP (co-sponsored by WMO, ISC, and IOC-UNESCO), Future Earth, and IPCC WG1, will be streamed on the WMO YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/_WT3-TX7C5A) on November 2, 2021, 08:00-09:00 (Local UK time: GMT)
Anthropogenic climate change brings many significant challenges and risks that affect almost all aspects of life on Earth. Droughts, heavy rain and flooding, heatwaves, extreme fire weather, and coastal inundation are some examples of what is already occurring and where amplified risks and impacts in the future will threaten millions of people around the world with many of the poorest most severely impacted. It also threatens the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To reduce such threats, the COP21 Paris Agreement aimed to limit global warming to well below 2.0°C above pre-industrial temperatures and to pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. This requires a dramatic reduction of emissions of anthropogenic climate forcers, especially a reduction in fossil CO2 emissions. Eventually, all net emissions of anthropogenic climate forcers need to be reduced to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
It now appears increasingly likely that the 1.5°C goal will be breached, given current emissions and national commitments. However, any delay in emissions reduction is committing the planet to even further increases in global temperatures and even greater risk of more intense and frequent weather and climate extremes.
Staying below 2.0°C requires an unprecedented transformation of societies around the world to reduce emissions as well as a technology revolution. Negative emission technologies are unlikely to be possible at the scale proposed in many scenarios. The session will discuss the risks and consequences of breaching 1.5C warming, and possible transformation pathways that guide decision-makers and stakeholders.
Speakers/Panellists/Moderator: Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Panmao Zhai, Detlef Stammer, Johan Rockström, Peter Gluckman, Helen Cleugh, Gabi Hegerl, Regina Rodrigues, Bruce Hewitson, Greg Flato, and Sabine Fuss.