Media Release: Latest IPCC Report “It’s now or never” and citizen advocacy group says “Follow the money”

Media Release: Latest IPCC Report “It’s now or never” and citizen advocacy group says “Follow the money”

MEDIA RELEASE: Latest IPCC Report “It’s now or never” and citizen advocacy group says “Follow the money”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 4, 2022
Media Contact: Cathy Orlando, cathy@citizensclimatelobby.org, 705-929-4043

Sudbury: On April 4, 2022, Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its report on Mitigation of Climate Change. The report builds on decades of accumulating scientific evidence and is formally endorsed by nearly 200 nations. The report is the work of 278 authors from 65 countries, plus 354 contributing authors, building on over 18,000 cited references and addressing a total of 59,212 expert and government review comments.

This comprehensive science report finds we are not, as a global community, eliminating global heating pollution rapidly enough to avoid a state of pervasive, persistent climate emergency. However, the technological, policy, and financial resources exist now to allow us to meet this great global challenge, just in time.

“It’s now or never if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C, ” said IPCC Working Group III Co-Chair Jim Skea. “Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.”

In the scenarios the IPCC assessed, limiting warming to around 1.5 °C requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest, and be reduced by 43% by 2030; at the same time, methane would also need to be reduced by about a third. Even if we do this, it is almost inevitable that we will temporarily exceed this temperature threshold, but could return to below it by the end of the century. The global temperature will stabilize when carbon dioxide emissions reach net-zero. For 1.5 °C, this means achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions globally in the early 2050s.

“The latest IPCC Report concluded it is now or never and at Citizens’ Climate Lobby we suggest that we need to follow the money,” exclaims Cathy Orlando, National Director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada. “Public money cannot finance the low-carbon transition by itself. The money that is needed is in the trillions of dollars. Governments must use policy instruments to mobilize private sector financing.”

The report “looks beyond technologies and demonstrates that while financial flows are a factor of three to six times lower than levels needed by 2030 to limit warming to below 2 °C, there is sufficient global capital and liquidity to close investment gaps. However, it relies on clear signalling from governments and the international community, including a stronger alignment of public sector finance and policy.”

In regard to carbon pricing, the latest IPCC report concluded the following:

  • Where implemented, carbon pricing instruments have incentivized low-cost emissions reduction measures, but have been less effective, on their own and at prevailing prices during the assessment period, to promote higher-cost measures necessary for further reductions (medium confidence).
  • Equity and distributional impacts of such carbon pricing instruments can be addressed by using revenue from carbon taxes or emissions trading to support low-income households, among other approaches (high confidence).
  • Practical experience has informed instrument design and helped to improve predictability, environmental effectiveness, economic efficiency, distributional goals, and social acceptance (high confidence).

“Canada and governments around the world can create an equitable and resilient world if they enact evidence-based and socially-just policies that will redirect financial flows away from fossil fuels and towards a liveable future,” says Orlando. “At this time, we ask that the government strengthen Canada’s carbon policy. Our volunteers look forward to lobbying their MPs to do just that in the month of May.”

CCL Canada is a volunteer-driven and non-partisan organization. Since 2010, we have been focused on advocating for an incrementally increasing price on carbon pollution, with 100% of the revenue returned directly and equitably back to citizens. To date, we have 42 active chapters covering over 120 ridings across the country and have met with government officials over 1400 times.

For more information about the latest IPCC report go here  https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/
For more information about Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada go here https://canada.citizensclimatelobby.org/  

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