The UN´s IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) released a report this Monday 8th October 2018 on climate change.

In this report, the authors (various leading scientists) warn that we might not be able to keep the global temperature below 1.5ºC if governments do not act NOW. The Paris Agreement set up measures for the target of 1.5ºC to 2ºC; but not only are these measures actually insufficient to reach this target, they are not even respected by the nations who signed the agreement. If we continue like this, we could reach 1.5ºC between 2030 and 2052. This means that in some parts of the world, the increase would reach 2, even 3ºC. And it also means that it would increase further during the century. It would cause, as we all know, additional sea level rise, therefore additional climate migrants. They could be as much as one or two BILLIONS. The natural disasters would be even more violent than they are now, impacting every single person on this planet.

Here are some changes that the report says are going to be absolutely necessary if we want to keep to 1.5:

• Cut carbon pollution by 45% by 2030 (compared to 2010)

• Increase renewable energies to 70 to 85% by 2050

These are measures that can only be put up by the governments. But we all have to change our lifestyle too. We have to consume less, break free from the society of consumption we belong in and a few other really important shifts in our lifestyle. Let's REALLY start doing something for the world.

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Further reading and sources:

• IPCC. Global Warming of 1.5ºC. <ipcc.ch/report/sr15/>

• Christophe Gueugneau (8 October 2018) Climat: le GIEC peut-il gagner contre l’inertie? Mediapart. <www.mediapart.fr/journal/>

• Jonathan Watts (8 October 2018) We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN. The Guardian. <www.theguardian.com/environment/>

• Matthew Taylor, Adam Vaughan (8 October 2018) Overwhelmed by climate change? Here's what you can do. The Guardian. <www.theguardian.com/environment/>