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6 min read | By UN Global Compact Network Singapore
What is the IPCC?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the UN’s scientific body formed in 1988 to assess the science behind climate change.
The IPCC conducts assessments in 6 to 8-year cycles and recently concluded its 6th assessment report (AR6). Its assessments provide policymakers with an important scientific basis for crafting climate-related policies and underlie negotiations at the annual UN Climate Conference.
What is the IPCC AR6 synthesis report and its significance?
Recently, the IPCC’s AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023 was released on 20 March 2023, as the final segment of the sixth AR.
The Report summarized the key findings of preceding reports made in the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle and is intended to provide policymakers with a more succinct overview.
Key findings summarized in the Synthesis Report:
Currently, the world has already warmed by 1.1°C compared to 1850-1990 levels. This is affecting many climate and weather extremes around the world, not to mention, the current heat wave sweeping Asia.
To avoid catastrophic climate impacts, it would be critical to limit global warming to below 1.5°C. To do so, global greenhouse gas emissions need to reach net-zero by 2050.
However, based on current climate policies and business as usual, global warming may reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2035 and may hit 3.2°C by 2100.
Even at 1.5°C of global warming, the human impacts will be severe, such as a 14% rise in extreme heat, and more than 70% decimation of coral reefs that support the ecosystems of fisheries. Surpassing 2°C of global warming will exponentially increase the climate impacts on human health and the economy.
Nonetheless, it is still possible to limit global warming to below 1.5°C – provided that deep, immediate and sustained cuts to emissions are done across all sectors. Emissions will need to peak by 2025 and need to be reduced by 43% by 2030.
Key to this, our actions in the next 7 years (i.e. this decade) will largely determine whether we can reach the global target of limiting warming to below 1.5°C.
Global capital is sufficient in mitigating the climate crisis, but there is insufficient finance channelled to climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.
What this means for businesses:
The good news is that many of the cost-effective measures to mitigate global warming already exist. These include:
As the IPCC’s assessments underlie international climate negotiations, the imperative to reduce emissions will be even more urgent. For the private sector, this is especially as future-proofing their operations against climate risks, such as floods, saves costs in the long run.
As such, we encourage local companies to have a head start in preparing for the low-carbon transition:
1. Measure and manage your carbon footprint
More and more customers, such as governments and MNCs, have and will require their supply chain partners to report and reduce their emissions. This is because supply chain emissions usually form the bulk of an organisation’s carbon footprint.
Hence, companies should start measuring their carbon footprint to better manage it.
To support companies, GCNS provides resources such as the Carbon & Emissions Recording Tool (CERT) that local companies can use to track their emissions; the Climate Ambition Accelerator programme for companies keen to set science-based targets.
2. Tap on green financing and funding to support your business’ green transition
Many banks in Singapore offer green loans and sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) to fund companies (including SMEs) activities that have a low carbon impact.
Green loans are meant to fund green projects with clear environmental benefits, whereas sustainability-linked loans can be used for general corporate purposes that still achieve certain sustainability targets.
Besides that, companies can tap into a range of government funding to fund their decarbonisation projects.
3. The earlier sustainability is adopted, the greater the cost savings and competitive advantage
For example, this includes setting up an office in a greener building to reduce utility costs, integrating green infrastructure design at the start, and digitizing processes to save material use and costs.
For businesses that source materials from climate-vulnerable areas, it will be prudent to future-proof your supply chain by sourcing local and sustainably sourced materials.