UN chief says 'climate time bomb ticking': Key points of IPCC report

A critical report on climate warned the world is set to cross the key 1.5-degree Celsius global warming limit in about a decade. Is it too late? 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which consists of the world's leading climate scientists, released the final part of its sixth assessment report. The analysts have issued a "final warning" on the deteriorating climate crisis. 

The IPCC is an intergovernmental body of the UN charged with advancing scientific knowledge about anthropogenic climate change. It has prepared detailed assessment reports about climate change amid a continuous rise in greenhouse gas emissions which have started to cause visible and irrevocable damage to the planet earth. 

The report talks about causes, potential impacts and response options to tackle global warming and also noted that only swift and drastic action can avert the situation. 

The UN said that severe climate impacts are coming more quickly at lower levels of global warming than previously expected. It warned that the world will see its first full year at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels in the early 2030s. 

IPCC said that said there is also a 50-50 chance that "by 2030, global surface temperature in any individual year could exceed 1.5C". 

The report highlights devastating climate impacts and says humanity has driven the planet to the precipice of climate catastrophe. However, it also suggests that there is still time to steer global temperatures to within relatively safe limits. But it will require an enormous global effort. 

"Rapid and far-reaching transitions across all sectors and systems are necessary to achieve deep and sustained emissions reductions and secure a liveable and sustainable future for all," said the report's "summary for policymakers". 

The UN's climate advisory panel said that the benefits to society and the world's economy of capping global warming under two degrees Celsius outweigh the economic costs. 

The IPCC said that this is true even without accounting for all the rewards of avoiding climate damages, which range from the health impacts of air pollution to reduced crop yields. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the rich countries to move up their goals of achieving carbon neutrality as close as possible to 2040, mostly from 2050 now, in order to "defuse the climate time bomb." 

Guterres said, "IPCC report is a how-to guide to defuse the climate time-bomb. It is a survival guide for humanity. As it shows, the 1.5-degree limit is achievable. But it will take a quantum leap in climate action." 

In response to the video, Guterres said in a video message that "humanity is on thin ice - and that ice is melting fast." He also likened the IPCC report to "a survival guide for humanity".