Fixing climate change ‘not a free lunch’

The new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that global emissions of greenhouse gases have risen to “unprecedented” levels, despite policies in place to reduce climate change.

Emissions grew more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than in any of the three previous decades, the report found – but it also suggested that it is possible to arrest the rise if steps are taken by the international community.

The latest report is part of a much wider body of work from the United Nations, aiming to update science on the latest thinking on climate change.

I’m not saying it’s costless. I’m not saying climate policy is a free lunch. IPCC’s Ottmar Edenhofer

Drawing on the work of more than 1,000 experts, the report paints a picture of the difficult situation the world is facing, but also points out that there is still time to make a difference.

A shift from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources such as wind, solar or nuclear power was affordable and would only shave about 0.06 per cent off world economic growth, the report said.

Ottmar Edenhofer, co-chair of a Berlin meeting of the IPCC, said the time to act was now.

“We have a window of opportunity for the next decade, and maximum the next two decades,” he said.

“I’m not saying it’s costless. I’m not saying climate policy is a free lunch. But it’s a lunch worthwhile to buy.”

The report, endorsed by governments and in three main parts, is meant as the main scientific guide for nations working on a UN deal to be agreed in 2015 to limit emissions – including developing industrial nations such as China in the deal. The full summary will be published in October.

Governments have promised to attempt to limit temperature rises to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times to prevent ever more heat waves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels linked to global warming – but at the moment targets are being missed.