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by and - The ocean has absorbed 20-30% of our carbon emissions since the 1980s. It's feeling the effects.
IPCC
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by Frances Seymour and David Gibbs - August 08, 2019The latest IPCC report confirms a lot we already knew about the relationship between tropical forests and climate change, as well as reveals some relatively new science about how forests interact with the atmosphere. The bottom line? Protecting forests—especially tropical forests—is one of the most important strategies for both climate mitigation and adaptation.
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by Hannah Mowat and Peter Veit - August 08, 2019Indigenous peoples and other local communities have long argued that they play a central role in safeguarding more than half the world’s land, including much of its forests. The world’s leading climate scientists now agree.
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by Kelly Levin - August 08, 2019A new IPCC report found there could be significant benefits to land-based carbon removal, such as through afforestation and restoration. But if deployed incorrectly, these strategies could create greater pressures on land and compromise food security and ecosystem health.
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by Kelly Levin and Sarah Parsons - August 08, 2019The latest IPCC report finds that while land sequesters almost a third of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions, it will be impossible to limit temperature rise to safe levels without fundamentally changing the way the world produces food and manages land.
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by Karl Hausker - July 2019On July 24, WRI Senior Fellow Karl Hausker, Ph.D., testified in a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy & Commerce, Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change. The hearing, titled “Building America’s Clean Future: Pathways to Decarbonize the Economy,” examined the challenges and opportunities associated with deep decarbonization of the United States economy.
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by Andrew Steer and Leo Horn-Phathanothai - June 07, 2019Harnessing the full power of towns and cities to drive the shift to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future requires action at all levels of government, with strong supportive policy frameworks, incentive systems and financial resources for sustainable infrastructure.
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by Yamide Dagnet - May 17, 2019Advances in science and technology mean that we can better measure emissions. A "refinement" to the existing guidelines lays out how countries can better report to the IPCC, giving us a better picture than ever of what we need to do to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.
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by Richard Waite and Daniel Vennard - October 17, 2018Global meat and dairy consumption is set to increase nearly 70 percent by 2050. The resulting agricultural emissions would make it impossible to keep temperature rise below 1.5°C (2.7°F), the level scientists say is necessary for staving off climate disasters.
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by Kelly Levin - October 07, 2018Scientists have calculated the amount of carbon dioxide the world can emit while limiting warming to the internationally agreed upon goals of 1.5°C-2°C. This amount is our “carbon budget.” We're on track to exceed it in little more than a decade.
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by Kelly Levin - October 07, 2018Countries around the world agreed to limit global temperature rise to 1.5˚C-2˚C. A new IPCC report finds that the half-degree difference matters—a lot.
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by Dino Patti Djalal and Tjokorda Nirarta "Koni" Samadhi - September 16, 2015In 2009, Indonesia made a bold move by voluntarily pledging to achieve a 26 percent reduction in emissions against the business-as-usual scenario in 2020, or 41 percent with international support. Being a developing country with so much promise for economic growth and development, the international community applauded Indonesia for this daring target, which became a game-changer in the stagnant climate negotiations at the time. The National Action Plan on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emission (RAN-GRK) was soon issued to guide its implementation.
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by Cynthia Cummis - May 20, 2015The Science-Based Targets initiative aims to enlist 100 companies in 2015 to commit to setting greenhouse gas reduction targets based on the latest climate science. These targets can help prevent the worst impacts of climate change while safeguarding businesses' profitability.
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by Kitty van der Heijden, Peter Hazlewood and Sonya Suter - December 10, 2014A recent UN report highlights the need to examine the role of development finance institutions in sustainable development, but it leaves open the question of whether member states should call for a review process.
Here’s a perspective on some of the outstanding negotiation challenges.
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by Johannes Friedrich, Kelly Levin, Bill Dugan and Thomas Damassa - December 01, 2014At COP 20 in Lima, country representatives are coming together to discuss plans to reign in global greenhouse gas emissions.
A new interactive from WRI reveals the history of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as well as what needs to happen to stay within world’s “carbon budget” and prevent the most disastrous impacts of climate change.
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This interactive reveals how national CO₂ emissions have changed over the past 150 years.
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October 30, 2014The IPCC reports are the most comprehensive, authoritative consensus on climate change. Check out nine findings that illustrate how the trends documented in the IPCC continue to take a toll, and in some cases, may be underestimated.
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by Sarah Parsons - October 30, 2014The final installment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) fifth assessment report (AR5), set to be released this weekend, is the most comprehensive evaluation of climate change to date.
It paints a vivid picture of how climate change is already impacting communities around the world, as well as where we’re headed if emissions don’t drop significantly. Here’s a look at three infographics that underscore the report’s findings.
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This infographic, based on IPCC data, depicts the likely consequences of various emissions pathways ranging from a low-carbon future to a fossil fuel-intensive one.
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by C. Forbes Tompkins - August 05, 2014Recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revealed that the impacts of climate change are already “widespread and consequential.” Yet the effects we may see in the future still largely depend on the actions countries take to reduce their emissions today.
Our new infographic, based on IPCC data, depicts the likely consequences of various emissions pathways ranging from a low-carbon future to a fossil fuel-intensive one.