1⃣If anyone wants my "take" on the latest IPCC report then here goes (will be writing something about this later, but to be honest, this thread will probably allow me to say what I want to say more effectively).
2⃣1.5°C is over. We now have to imagine the most fabulous scenarios to truly honour the Paris Agreement. That includes increasingly including large-scale removal of CO2 from the atmosphere to drag down temps after "overshooting".
3⃣We are still firmly on course for around 3°C by end of century. But really these end of century and even mid-century projections & targets are meaningless. What we need is the reduction of fossil fuel use NOW (sorry for shouting).
4⃣The reason we're not cutting fossil fuel use is not because it's really hard (it is) or represents huge challenges for finance (it does). It's because a tiny fraction of humanity is resisting with all of its considerable power. Power it has accrued with fossil fuels.
5⃣I appreciate "Fossil fuel fucks are stealing my children's future" isn't the sort of title IPCC will use in press releases or SPMs but that's the brutal reality. And I'm very frustrated about why we academics find it so hard to say that (or family friendly version).
6⃣We are still playing the game of producing increasingly absurb scenarios and then watching as civilisation carries on regardless. Now this doesn't mean we haven't made some huge progress in decarbonising. We are seeing energy transformations in many places.
7⃣But it's nowhere near enough and I guess that most academics either know that or suspect it. We have to turn off fossil fuels. Not overnight - that will kill billions. But VERY SOON. And that is a direct challenge to the most powerful organisations the world has ever seen.
8⃣Did you ever think they would wake up one day and decide to implode their industry? I'm not painting them as the victim here, but they will require support from governments to fundamentally repurpose their missions. This cannot be left to the market.
9⃣That's what this latest IPCC report says to me. I am profoundly grateful to all (lead)authors & reviewers. We would be in a far worse place without them 🙏. But now we need a new stage of academic engagement with the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.
🔟That's why I'm working with facultyforafuture.org Perhaps you would like to join us. END
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