Commenting on yesterday’s UN climate impact report, Jessica McQuade, Policy and Advocacy Officer at WWF Cymru said:
“This report ramps up the need for immediate real and specific action to cut our greenhouse gas emissions in Wales, to help cut the huge risks to people and nature of dangerous climate change.
“There is a massive gap between what the science is telling us we need to do to and what governments across the world are actually doing. While we’re pleased that the Welsh Government recognises its role in tackling the issue, it now needs to act quickly to cut our greenhouse gas emissions more rapidly.
“Ministers in Cardiff Bay need to take real and specific action to cut emissions, such as making Wales’ homes more energy efficient, helping shift our energy system away from fossil fuels and towards renewables, and transforming Wales’ economy. We also need to be ready for the impacts of climate change, which is likely to mean more extreme weather events of the type we saw earlier this year.”
“With the next of this set of IPCC reports out in April, we hope to see solutions to the massive challenges we face. In Wales we need to look at where we’ve been effective so far and learn from successful examples from across the world. The fact that the Minister responsible, Alun Davies, has announced a ‘refresh’ of the Welsh Government’s Climate Change Strategy, is the opportunity to make the changes we need to face up to this enormous threat to the world.”
The UN climate impact report, released today, gives the clearest and most comprehensive evidence yet that the earth we call home is in deep trouble. It reinforces the sobering view that climate change is real, it’s happening now and it’s affecting the lives and the livelihoods of people as well as the sensitive ecosystems that sustain life.
This is the second in a series of four reports being prepared by the world’s leading climate authorities in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It assesses the impacts, adaptation and vulnerability of human and natural systems, the observed impacts and future risks of climate change, and the potential for and limits to adaptation.
