Window for climate change action narrowing: IPCC

The window of opportunity to address climate change is narrowing rapidly, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest report. "Climate-resilient development pathways" are being progressively constrained by every increment of warming, in particular beyond 1.5°C, the report from the IPCC working group 2 finds — the group looks at climate impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. "Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future," working group 2 co-chair Hans-Otto Portner says. The IPCC's working group 3, focusing on climate change mitigation, is due to release its report in April, while the IPCC is due to publish its sixth assessment report just before the UN's Cop 27 climate conference in Egypt in November. "The world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5°C. Even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible," the report says. Moves to limit global warming to 1.5°C would substantially reduce the threat to humanity and ecosystems, but cannot eliminate them, the IPCC says.