Synthesis Report: IPCC meet in Switzerland: The significance, likely impact

Source: The post is based on the article “IPCC meet in Switzerland: The significance, likely impact” published in Indian Express on 15th March 2023

What is the News?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) is meeting in Switzerland to finalize the Synthesis Report.

What is a Synthesis Report?

Synthesis Report integrates and summarizes the findings of the six reports released by IPCC during the current cycle which began in 2015. 

This includes three Special Reports and the three IPCC Working Group contributions to the Sixth Assessment Report.

Once approved, the Synthesis Report will become a fundamental policy document for shaping climate action in the remainder of this pivotal decade. 

This will bring an end to the Sixth Assessment Report, a collective work of thousands of scientists over a period of eight years starting in 2015.

About IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Cycle

As part of the sixth assessment cycle, the IPCC published three comprehensive reports: 1) scientific evidence for climate change, 2) impacts and vulnerabilities and 3) exploring mitigation options available. 

Besides these, special reports on the feasibility of keeping global temperature rise within the 1.5 degree Celsius limit and the connections between land, ocean and cryosphere were also released.

What will be the focus of the Synthesis Report by IPCC?

The first report of the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle, the one on 1.5-degree temperature limit, had come out in 2018.

In the five years since then, a lot more evidence on the pressing need to stick to the 1.5 degree Celsius target has presented itself. 

Measurements by the World Meteorological Organisation reveals that the average annual temperatures have already gone above 1.2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times. The WMO also mentioned that the breach of the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold, even if temporary, is a real possibility in just the next five years.

Therefore, the Synthesis Report is expected to emphasize on meeting the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold as the main global goal, unlike the Paris Agreement, which seeks to restrict temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius.