Director insights on the Sixth IPCC Assessment Reports
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is nearing the end of its Sixth Assessment Cycle, during which its three Working Groups produce reports summarising the evidence base underpinning climate change.
The Climate Governance Initiative (CGI) has produced a summary of each of the reports, focusing on key insights and applications for directors.
1. Working Group I report: The physical science basis
(Published August 2021)
This report focused on the physical science of climate change and shows that human activity is unequivocally driving changes to the climate at an unprecedented scale. The science indicates there is still time to limit temperature rises, but only if we act now, and with ambition.
Read CGI summary
2. Working Group II report: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
(Published February 2022)
This report outlined how climate change will impact society and the environment, and how the world can adapt to these impacts. It concludes that the impacts of climate change are severe, but that humanity can still avoid many of them if it seizes “a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity”.
3. Working Group III report: Mitigation of Climate Change
(Published April 2022)
This report focuses on mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions – the central part of any organisation’s climate policy. The report explains that limiting warming to 1.5C will require global emissions to peak before 2025 and that many pathways to 2C of warming will also require this, but will not happen under current policies. The world needs to take drastic action to maintain a stable, liveable climate.
These summaries have been created by the Centre for Climate Engagement.
