Video - Summary of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Synthesis Report

Graphs - IPCC Report: CO2, Temperatures and Emissions

IPCC Synthesis Report: Background and Summary

In November the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its final world Synthesis Report. This is the world's most comprehensive assessment of scientific knowledge on climate change. The conclusions in the report are the starkest warnings yet. Urgent action is required as we are rapidly running out of time.

The final Synthesis Report summarizes three massive climate investigations:

1. The report on the physical science of climate change was released in September 2013. It reiterated the finding that humans are the leading cause of climate change. They further demonstrated that as measured by a number of indicators (ice sheet melt, glacial melt and sea level rise), climate change is occurred faster than predicted. It further stated that this is impacting meteorological conditions by increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

Failure to Reduce Emissions will Result in an Ecological and Economic Catastrophe (IPCC's Leaked "Synthesis" Report)

The latest leaked Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report reiterates three points that we already know and warns us of dire consequences if we fail to act. Climate change is here, it is caused by humans and it has a number of dangerous impacts. It is noted that extreme weather like heat waves, drought, flooding and rising seas are already serious problems today.

The document specifically states that as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise we can expect the situation to worsen. This means more "severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems."

Latest IPCC Report on the Viability of Fast Actions to Limit Climate Change Including SLCP

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report indicates that many fast actions for addressing climate change are proving to be more affordable than previously imagined. The report is entitled Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, it is the third of three Working Group Reports, which make up the IPCC's fifth Assessment Report.

The report addresses the viability of restricting short lived climate pollutants (SLCP) and also indicates that there are a number of other fast actions that can be taken that will have a dramatic impact on global warming without adversely impacting people's quality of life. They include efforts to improve energy efficiency through new building codes, vehicle efficiency standards and increases in renewable energy. The economic viability of clean energy sources like wind and solar are becoming increasingly obvious as they are becoming cheaper to produce and deploy.

Latest IPCC Report Indicates the World is Headed Towards Unacceptable Temperature Increases

If we continue with business as usual we will see a temperature increase of more than 4ºC above preindustrial temperatures by the end of the century. This is more than double the internationally agreed upon upper temperature limit increase of 2ºC.

According to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased by the equivalent of ten billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) between 2000 and 2010. The report entitled Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, is the third of three Working Group Reports, which make up the IPCC’s fifth Assessment Report on climate change.

The Three Most Revealing IPCC Charts

Video - Review of the Salient Findings in the IPCC AR5 WGll

This brief BBC video summary of the second part of the IPCC AR5 report reviews the overwhelming evidence that humans are experiencing the effects of climate change. The report was released at the end of March and it indicates that some of these impacts are already baked in. However, it warns that if we act soon (mitigate and adapt) we can avoid some of the more catastrophic consequences.

Most Recent IPCC Report Omits Green Climate Fund

One of the biggest changes to the most recent installment of the IPCC AR5, concerned the removal of a key number from the executive summary. The missing figure is the annual sum that rich countries have agreed to give poor countries for climate change mitigation. While mention of the $100 billion figure remains in the full 2,500 page report, it was removed from a 48-page executive summary read by the world’s top political leaders.

The most recent IPCC report was released at the end of March, 2014, in Yokohama, Japan. The body of the WGll report points to a World Bank estimate that shows how poor countries need $100 billion a year to try to offset the effects of climate change. At present they are receiving only a tiny fraction of that amount.

A Scientist who Disagrees with the Conclusions of the AR5 WGll

The findings of the recently released second part of the IPCC AR5 report were disputed by Richard Tol. He is the sole contributor who sought to downplay the adverse economic impacts of climate change.

Although it at first appears farcical, Tol was seriously trying to argue that climate change will be economically beneficial. However, his research was largely discounted as it is the only study that suggested climate change would have a positive impact on gross domestic product.

"Of the 19 studies he surveyed only one shows net positive benefits from warming. And it's the one he wrote," said Bob Ward, an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, policy and communications director of the Grantham Research Unit on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics.

IPCC AR5 WGll Report: An Impending Climate Catastrophe

The conclusions in the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report are distressing, but there may still be time to avert a climate catastrophe. The second part of the Fifth Assessment Report was released at the end of March and it paints a bleak picture of our current situation and the future prospects for life on planet Earth.

There is no more comprehensive summary of the current state of climate change science than the IPCC reports. These reports cover the scientific, technical and socio-economic information on climate change..

The UN's IPCC is the world's leading scientific body on climate information. Their work includes assessing the future risks from climate change as well as our ability to adapt. A total of 309 authors and editors from 70 countries contributed to the second part of the IPCC's fifth Assessment Report. It reviewed the findings of a vast number of researchers then it distilled the data to create a 2,500 page report.

Second Quarter of the Fifth IPCC Report Leaked

Although it is not scheduled to be published until March 2014, another installment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has been recently leaked. This second quarter of the fifth assessment deals with the severity of climate impacts and worldwide efforts to adapt to it.

The report indicates that in a world wracked by climate change we can expect significant problems in the food chain, conflict and widespread extinction of species. The leaked document also suggests that polar ecosystems and coral reefs will be hit hard by ocean acidification.

Debunking Efforts to Undermine the Latest IPCC Report

Climate deniers began working to undermine the fifth Climate Assessment from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) even before the first part of the report was released on September 27. A plethora of media outlets, politicians and business interests are employing a barrage of misinformation tactics to undermine the report.

A misguided article published in The Telegraph made that outlandish claim that, “There is no other evidence out there that global warming is any kind of problem. That it exists only in the imagination of the people who programme those computer models and the scientists who contribute to the theory that anthropogenic CO2 is a problem.”

IPCC Charts: Surface Temperatures, Sea Levels and CO2

Non-Profit Groups and Scientists React to the Fifth IPCC Report

Environmental groups and other non-profit NGOs have reacted positively to the IPCC AR5 summary for policy makers. In addition to supporting the report's scientific conclusions, they are advocating immediate action. Unsurprisingly scientists have also responded positively to the report and are also calling for urgent action.

Here is a brief summary of some of the responses.

The Science in the 2013 IPCC Report: Unequivocal Evidence of Anthropogenic Climate Change

The huge new climate report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states with more clarity than ever before that humans are to blame for climate change.

"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia."

With 95 percent certainty (up from 90 percent in 2007, 66 percent in 2001 and 50 percent in 1995) scientists attribute climate change to human activities, especially burning fossil fuels.  The IPCC further states that humans have most likely caused all of the global warming over the past 60 years.

UN and US Political Reactions to the 2013 IPCC Report

There has been a great deal of reaction to the fifth IPCC Report from the leadership at the United Nations (UN) and from within the United States (US) government both in Congress and in the Obama administration.

Predictably, Ban Ki-Moon, Connie Hedgaard, John Kerry and Barbara Boxer have all endorsed the findings of the IPCC AR5 summary and strongly encourage action.

Here is a brief summary of their responses:

The Business Community Responds to the 2013 IPCC Report

The business community must acknowledge the material threat posed by climate change. Now that the IPCC has released its fifth assessment offering the most unequivocal support for anthropogenic climate change to date, business leaders worth their salt will be forced to take notice or suffer the consequences. Here are four reactions from responsible corporations (Ceres, HSBC, VF Corporation, and Swiss Re):

Ceres says the IPCC report confirms climate change is affecting businesses’ bottom lines and their strategies.

Video - Sustainable Development: CSD Replaced by HLPF

To ensure that sustainable development tops the agenda of the highest levels of government, members at Rio+20 agreed to change from the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which was formed after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, to the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development. The inaugural meeting of the HLPF took place on September 24, 2013.

Video - New UN Forum to Advance Sustainable Development

The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development had it's inaugural meeting on 24 September 2013. Watch our video to find out why this matters.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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