A summary of 8 key climate reports

There have been a number of key reports released in the weeks leading up to COP27. It is more important than ever that these research messages are widely communicated: every one of us is needed to help translate these reports into action. To make this easier, I have provided a summary of some of the most critical reports below: 

ISSD: Navigating Energy Transition Report

Released 1st October 2022 (full report here)

• Developing new old and gas fields is not compatible with the 1.5°C warming goal
• We must decrease oil and gas reliance by 65% by 2050
• Government policy and funding is essential to transition to clean energy 
• Europe cannot create new fossil fuel import infrastructure if we are to limit global warming to 1.5°C

The Lancet: Countdown on Health and Climate Change Report

Released 25th October 2022 (full report here)

• Climate change is negatively impacting every pillar of good health, worsening the Covid-19 crisis, and influencing geopolitical conflict
• Extreme heat is preventing people from exercising and working effectively, impacting mental and physical health health 
• Health harms directly linked to heat exposure are increasing
• There is a significant increase in people aged 65+ dying from heat related causes
• More frequent and extreme weather events are impacting physical and mental health
• Climate change is increasing the risk of disease outbreak 
• Nutrition is being impacted by increased food insecurity
• Health systems are already overburdened

UNICEF: Children and Heatwaves Report

Released 25th October 2022 (full report here)

• There are already 559 million children exposed to high heatwave frequency
• About 624 million children are exposed to other high heat measures including high heatwave duration, high heatwave severity, or extreme high temperatures
• Children in Northern regions will face the most dramatic increases
• Nearly 50% all children in Africa and Asia will face sustained exposure to extreme high temperatures by 2050 
• This will negatively impact the health, education and livelihood of nearly every child in the world (2 billion children) by 2050 

UNFCCC: Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report

Released 26th October 2022 (full report here)

• Progress is happening but it is not enough to limit warming to 1.5°C by 2100
• We need to see a downward trend in emissions this decade but current projects show emissions are set to increase up until 2030 
• Current climate pledges from the 193 Parties that signed the Paris Agreement would see the world warm by 2.5°C by 2100
• All 193 parties agreed to improve their NDC plan after COP26 but only 24 have done so

WMO: Greenhouse Gas Bulletin

Released on 26th October 2022 (full report here)

• Atmospheric levels of the three main greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) all reached record highs in 2021
• Increase in methane levels was particularly high (the largest increase since measurements began)
• The increase in carbon dioxide emissions was above average 

Climate Action Tracker’s State of Climate Action

Released 26th October 2022 (full report here)

• This report assess 40 indicators to understand how on track we are to address the climate crisis: 0 indicators are on track; 6 indicators have made progress but not fast enough; 21 indicators are in the right direction but severely below target; 5 indicators are moving in the wrong direction; 8 indicators had insufficient data to analyse properly 
• We need system wide transformations as a matter of urgency 
• Most progress is going in the right direction but it is not going fast enough 
• We need finance, inclusive efforts, and monitoring and evaluation to support transitions

UNEP: Emissions Gap report

Released 27th october 2022 (full report here) 

• We are not on track to meet the 1.5°C warming target and there is no credible way to get on track 
• We need an urgent system-wide transformation to avoid disaster
• There is some progress towards zero greenhouse gas emissions in electricity, industry, transport and buildings but it needs to be faster
• Food systems are responsible for ⅓ of all emissions and must be a target area for change with a focus on demand-side dietary changes, protecting ecosystems, and improving food production 
• The finance industry plays a huge role in enabling these changes but is not currently set up to do so effectively 

IEA: World Energy Outlook

Released 27th october 2022 (full report here)

• We are in the midst of a global energy crisis, largely as a result of the Russian invasion in Ukraine
• Fossil fuel prices have reached record levels, leading to global economic pressure
• Governments are switching focus to clean energy which means we start to see our reliance on fossil fuels drop in coming decades 
• There is still a large gap between current activity and reaching 1.5°C targets
• The success of transitions away from fossil fuels will rely on investment and secure supply chains 

I hope that you have found this list useful. Please let me know if there are any other reports you would like to see summarised here.