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In March, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—of which Nigeria is a signatory—released a synthesis report, underscoring that unless immediate and radical action is taken, global climate goals could be out of reach. Climate scientists have found that the world could surpass its climate target—1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures—by the early 2030s.

‘The climate time-bomb is ticking,’ said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the launch of the synthesis report. ‘Humanity is on thin ice – and that ice is melting fast.’

The report—the fourth and final instalment of the sixth assessment report—covers the observations and projections of global warming; details the impact of the climate crisis; how to adapt to them and proposes ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The newly published report includes three other IPCC reports published since 2018 on the impacts of global heating above pre-industrial levels, climate change and land sustainability, and the oceans and cryosphere. These reports were published in August 2021, February and April 2022 respectively.

The report notes that while limiting global warming to 1.5C is still possible, the window to achieve those goals is rapidly closing due to increasing emissions and pollution, which grew by nearly one per cent last year.

The findings of this report will feed into the next UN climate conference, COP28, holding in Dubai at the end of this year. This conference will see the first global review of the Paris Climate Agreement—adopted in 2015—and will assess what progress (if any) has been made towards addressing the climate crisis.

Every year, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP, sees world powers converge to discuss strategies, initiatives, and programmes aimed to address the impact of climate change globally. The global community also discusses what governments and companies can do to reduce contributing factors and mitigate loss.

In 2021, the International Energy Agency cautioned against the creation of new fossil fuel projects to meet climate commitments. However, in the face of Russia’s continuing onslaught in Ukraine, world leaders have doubled down on fossil fuel consumption and continued to approve oil, gas and coal projects for the sake of energy security. Germany had proposed phasing out coal-fired power plants by 2030 to reduce carbon emissions; instead, it revived coal projects to secure its energy sector. The result: recorded additional emissions of 15.8 million tonnes of CO2, according to a report by German consultancy, Energy Brainpool.

China intends to expand its coal operations, following the approval of coal production across 82 sites, the highest number of new coal-fired power plants since 2015, according to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air and the Global Energy Monitor.

Last month, the United States approved the Willow oil drilling project in Alaska; this is projected to produce enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tonnes of CO2.  In protest, five million people (and counting) have signed a Change.org petition. Climate activists like Greenpeace USA and The Wilderness Society have also pushed back against the policy, in light of President Joe Biden’s campaign climate promise to ‘achieve a 100 per cent clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050’. Arati Prabhakar, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, defended the United States’ actions, saying the UN report shows ‘the Earth’s future is not predetermined.’

In 2009, higher-income countries like Australia, Canada and the US promised $100 billion annually in climate finance to lower income countries by 2020. However, by 2020 20 per cent of their pledged amount was still unmet.