Window for climate change targets closing

On April 4th the body released a new report, of nearly 3,000 pages. It appeared after two weeks of wrangling by representatives from 195 governments over how best to present the “state of the union” of climate science.

To meet the goals of the Paris agreement, to limit the average global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels—and failing that, to below 2°C—will take immediate and unprecedented action from every country.

Greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025, and can be nearly halved this decade, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to give the world a chance of limiting future heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

The final cost of doing so will be minimal, amounting to just a few percent of global GDP by mid-century, though it will require a massive effort by governments, businesses and individuals.