Rapid changes needed to contain global warming, UN climate panel says

Keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees C will need speedy and far-reaching changes in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport and cities, the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned on Monday.

According to IPCC's Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees C, achieving that goal would require reducing global net human-caused carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 and reaching "net zero" around 2050.

In an energy system compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C, renewables are projected to supply 70%–85% of electricity in 2050 and essentially no coal would be used to produce power. The 1.5 degrees pathways are projected to involve annual investment in the energy system of an average of USD 2.4 trillion (EUR 2.1trn), or about 2.5% of the world GDP, between 2016 and 2035.

The report, approved by the IPCC on Saturday in Incheon, South Korea, will provide scientific input for the Katowice Climate Change Conference in Poland in December.

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