The World Meteorological Organisation has updated its forecast on when the crucial threshold of 1.5 degrees of heating will be passed, finding that there is now a 66% chance this will be breached between now and 2027.
Responding to this, Mike Robinson, Chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland said:
“We are seeing increasingly worrying trends of escalating temperatures, with records being broken and more extreme and devastating weather events that are destroying lives and livelihoods in every part of the world.”
“Whilst it might not be permanent at this stage, this announcement is still deeply troubling, and is a stark reminder that the climate crisis is already here. This updated forecast shows that the window for action is closing and even faster than we previously estimated.”
“However, there is still hope, and we have the solutions: we must swiftly move away from our reliance on fossil fuels, deliver a just transition, and put in place the transformational changes which will also bring benefits to our health, wellbeing and economy. Every percentage of a degree of warming we can limit will save lives.”
“The Scotland Government declared a climate emergency in 2019 and it must act accordingly, by publishing a bold, ambitious Climate Change Plan in November which will set out how big emitting sectors like transport, agriculture and heating will contribute to emission reductions, and continuing to provide climate finance for countries who did least to cause the crisis but are suffering it’s worst impacts.”
“Scientists have been sounding this alarm for the past 40 years, so the real question is why haven’t we done more to stop it? Climate change is not optional, it needs concerted action. Our government declared an emergency, it’s time we started acting like it was one.”
