IPCC Report: Oil and gas giants 'on notice' after dire UN climate analysis

Any further delays to curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to already inevitable climate change mean humanity will miss a “brief and rapidly closing window” to secure a liveable and sustainable future, the report warns.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the report as “an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership”, warning that nearly half of humanity is in the climate danger zone and many ecosystems are at the point of no return.

Mr Guterres warned that “coal and other fossil fuels are choking humanity” as he hit out at oil and gas producers for not doing enough to cut emissions.

He said: “Oil and gas giants and their underwriters are also on notice.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

“You cannot claim to be green while your plans and projects undermine the 2050 net zero target and ignore the major emission cuts that must occur this decade.

“People see through the smokescreen.”

He added that “the present global energy mix is broken” – calling for a ramping up of a move away from fossil fuels, including oil and gas, to renewable forms of energy.

Mr Guterres said: “As current events make all too clear, our continued reliance on fossil fuels makes the global economy and energy security vulnerable to geo-political shocks and crises.

“Instead of slowing down the decarbonisation of the global economy, now is the time to accelerate the energy transition to a renewable energy future.

“Fossil fuels are a dead end for our planet, for economies. A prompt well-managed transition to renewables is the only best way to energy security, universal access and the green jobs our world needs.”

The IPCC assessment is the second in a series of three reports in the latest review of climate science, which take place every seven years or so for governments.

It finds that climate change caused by humans has led to increasing heat and heatwaves, rising sea levels, floods, wildfires, heatwaves and drought, causing death, food and water scarcity, and migration.

Health impacts have been felt worldwide: people have died and suffered illness from extreme heat, diseases have emerged in new areas, there has been an increase in cholera, and worsening mental health, with trauma inflicted by floods, storms and loss of livelihoods.

Global warming has caused substantial damage and increasingly irreversible losses to natural systems, such as mass die-offs of corals and trees, and the first climate-driven species extinctions.

Different weather extremes are happening at the same time, causing “cascading” effects that are increasingly hard to manage.

The report also warns of the closeness of irreversible “tipping points” where melting of ice sheets in Antarctica, thawing of permanently frozen areas of the Arctic, or the loss of Amazon rainforest become unstoppable.

Some 3.3 billion to 3.6 billion people live in situations where they are highly vulnerable to climate change, the report warns.

The consequences of global warming, which has reached 1.1C above pre-industrial levels already, are not felt evenly around the world, with countries in sub-Saharan Africa and small island states among the most at risk.

But even in the UK and Europe people face coastal and inland flooding, heat extremes, damage to habitats, water scarcity and loss of crop production, as well as knock-on effects on food supplies and prices.

Nicola Sturgeon said that the world “must not ignore the latest stark warning” from the IPCC, despite the focus rightly being on Ukraine.

Campaigners have called for the Scottish and UK governments to do more to accelerate cuts to emissions.

Jamie Livingstone, head of Oxfam Scotland, said that "the catalogue of pain, loss and suffering highlighted in this report must be a wake-up call to everyone”.

He added: “All nations must do more, including Scotland. At COP26, the Scottish Government led the world by committing specific funds to help poor communities around the world who are already facing the irreversible impacts of climate change. But while Scotland’s emissions continue to fall, we have missed the last three annual emissions reductions targets in a row.

“Unless Scotland achieves more rapid emission cuts, the Scottish Government’s international leadership will be completely undermined: it’d be like throwing a brick through someone’s window and then offering to replace the glass. This IPCC report again highlights the life and death necessity of faster action.

“As the ongoing president of COP26, the UK Government must also ensure that the goal to double adaptation finance agreed during the talks is realised so that vulnerable countries can adapt to the changes they are facing. It must also become a champion of finance to address irreversible loss and damage”.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns, Mary Church, said: "The latest IPCC report makes for deeply alarming reading in confirming that the impacts of climate breakdown are more widespread, happening much sooner and having more devastating consequences than previously predicted.

"Following all the backslapping at COP26 this report is a stark reminder of the reality of the climate crisis and must serve as a wake up call to governments relying on vague 2050 net zero goals, pathways that overshoot 1.5C and fantasy techno-fixes. With barely a decade left before we reach this critical threshold we urgently need to focus on the solutions we know are necessary including a rapid and just phase out of fossil fuels.

"Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Glasgow and worldwide last November demanding a response to the climate crisis that puts justice at the heart of domestic and international efforts, transforming our economic, energy, and food systems and putting people and nature over profit.”

The report, which comes just over 100 days after world leaders agreed new efforts to limit warming and to deliver finance for adaptation at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, calls for adequate funding to help those most at risk.

Safeguarding nature, including conserving 30%-50% of the world’s land, freshwater and sea habitat, will reduce carbon and climate impacts, as well as protecting wildlife and the natural systems people rely on for food and water.

The report sets out what can be done to adapt to rising temperatures, from restoring wetlands and avoiding building in flood plains, to planting more trees in cities for cooling, and nature-friendly farming and more plant-based diets to reduce pressure on land.

But it warns against “maladaptation” – efforts to adapt such as hard sea walls which can cause more problems – and geoengineering schemes that could cause a host of new risks.

IPCC chairman Hoesung Lee said: “This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction.

“It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet.”

He added: “It emphasises the urgency of immediate and more ambitious action to address climate risks. Half measures are no longer an option.”