UK academics call for strong action on climate change at Paris summit

Academics today threw their weight behind calls for a strong climate deal in Paris later this year, urging governments to take immediate action to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Today’s communique,  a joint endeavor by learned societies across the sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, engineering and medicine, calls on governments, including the UK, to “seize the opportunity” in Paris to strike an ambitious deal to curb climate change.

Staying pretty close to what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in its latest report, the document doesn’t cover new ground as such.

But it sends a signal to negotiators that the science community supports a global agreement in Paris, says   Prof Eric Wolff, professor of earth sciences at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of the Royal Society, one of the 24 institutions endorsing today’s communique.

Other signatories include the British Ecological Society, the Institute of Physics, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Meteorological Society and the Wellcome Trust.

Facing up to risk

In a few months’ time, governments will meet in Paris to discuss how the world can limit global temperature to the internationally-agreed 2C above pre-industrial levels.

Today’s statement is an appeal to negotiators from the science community to base their discussions firmly in the latest science about the risks of exceeding 2C. It says:

“A rise of 2C above pre-industrial levels would lead to further increased risk from extreme weather and would place more ecosystems and cultures in significant danger. At or above 4C, the risks include substantial species extinction, global and regional food insecurity, and fundamental changes to human activities that today are taken for granted.”

But climate change is not only a future problem. Prof Camille Parmesan, expert in the impacts of climate change on natural systems at the University of Plymouth, tells Carbon Brief that even with 0.8C of warming since pre-industrial times we are already starting to see a decline in biodiversity. She says:

“We’re already seeing contraction of species in the most sensitive ecosystems, such as those dependent on sea ice or those living on mountain tops. We’re also seeing declines in some tropical systems, such as coral reefs, and the valuable services they provide for fish nurseries, tourism and coastal protection.”

Zero-carbon world

To have a reasonable chance of limiting warming to 2C, we must “transition to a zero-carbon world by early in the second half of the century,” says today’s communique.

The term “zero-carbon” is clarified further down as meaning “net zero global carbon dioxide emissions”. This isn’t the same as a phase-out of fossil fuels entirely. It allows for the possibility that emissions can continue as long as they are balanced by negative emissions technologies.

The most likely method of achieving negative emissions, biomass with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), is controversial because it might require very large areas of land to be set aside for fast-growing trees or other biomass crops.

The inclusion of a net-zero target rather than one for absolute zero emissions doesn’t mean the scientists advocate negative emissions technologies, Wolff tells Carbon Brief. But it recognises the fact that IPCC pathways consistent with 2C rely heavily on such technologies.

Carbon Brief has an handy briefing if you want to know more about negative emissions and what “net zero” does and doesn’t mean.

Seizing opportunities

As well as the need to limit climate risks, today’s communique highlights the benefits that tackling climate change can have beyond curbing temperature rise. It says:

“While the threats posed by climate change are far-reaching, the ways in which we tackle them can be a source of great opportunity.”

Policies to reduce carbon emissions come with a number of benefits, including opportunities to safeguard food, energy and water supplies and to improve air quality and public health, it says.

A safer, cleaner world is also a more prosperous one, says Lord Nicholas Stern, president of the British Academy, another signatory on the communique. He adds:

“Now is the time for the prime minister and the rest of his government to show leadership on this issue…The UK led the world with both the modern scientific revolution and the industrial revolution, and must lead again now.”

As well as supporting international agreement, this means showing leadership on domestic policy to tackle climate change, says Stern. Prof Neil Adger, professor of human geography at the University of Exeter, says measures to improve energy efficiency are a good example. He tells Carbon Brief:

“Decarbonising the economy through energy efficiency in homes and in workplaces makes sense on many levels – from reducing energy poverty to increased health and well-being.”

Governments must also seek the best advice on how to buffer themselves against impacts that can no longer be avoided. And there are clear benefits to the UK on this front, says Adger:

“Preparing the country for the impacts of climate change, such as the experience of the devastating winter floods of 2013/14, would bring so many benefits: more resilient wildlife communities, farming practices in the uplands that are profitable for farmers and retain and sustain their soils, and avoid the impacts of floods on economic disruption, public health and distress to those involved. It is a no-brainer and meets every cost-benefit test.”

“A resolvable problem”

Tackling climate change will “require deploying the full breadth of human talent and invention”, the report says. But it is a “resolvable problem”, says Dr Emily Shuckburgh, climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey. She says:

“Evidence-based action taken now, by governments and also by individuals, businesses, local communities and public institutions, can avert many of the risks posed by climate change and at the same time allow opportunities for low carbon and climate-resilient growth to be seized.”

Today’s communique sends a strong signal to negotiators ahead of the Paris talks, says Dr Ed Hawkins, a research fellow in climate predictability at the University of Reading. He says:

“This communique highlights a unanimous agreement from a wide range of learned societies about the challenges that lie ahead.”

Dr Peter Stott, head of the Met Office’s climate monitoring and attribution team emphasises the symbolic importance of today’s statement, saying:

“This is the first time such a wide spectrum of our learned societies have come together to highlight the urgent need to tackle climate change.”

Following quickly in the footsteps of the Our Common Future conference earlier this month, today’s communique serves to further amplify the academic community’s voice in putting the science case forward, and to show support for a strong deal that puts the world on the road to a pathway that does not breach the internationally agree 2C target.

Main image: The Royal Society, London.