Commission welcomes new IPCC climate change report highlighting the urgency of more ambitious climate action

The Commission welcomes the Synthesis Report released yesterday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), with the latest scientific findings gathered over the past eight years on climate change, and calls on all Parties to step up their ambition and live up to their commitments under the Paris Agreement. The IPCC Report highlighted that the scale of the changes in the climate system caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases is unprecedented in the history of humanity with grave implications for people and the planet.

In response to the evidence in the Report, the Commission reconfirms its intention to stay at the forefront of the fight against climate change by progressing with its efforts to make the EU climate-neutral and climate resilient, while accelerating the clean energy transition. The EU is already a frontrunner through its European Green Deal, with our 2030 emissions reductions legislated for in the EU Climate Law, and the Fit for 55 package of sectoral legislation. Limiting global warming to 1.5C requires global action on emissions reductions at all levels, across countries and economic sectors. The EU will continue to work with international partners on this front, towards COP28 and beyond.

With the Fit for 55 package, the EU is acting decisively to cut net emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and pave the way to reach climate neutrality by 2050. In parallel, it has stepped up its efforts to build climate resilience by implementing the EU Climate change Adaptation Strategy, working together with 300 European regions and local authorities through the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change.

Climate action needs to go hand in hand with other policies, and hence other initiatives under the European Green Deal such as the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, and the Zero Pollution and Circular Economy Action Plans are all crucial elements of the transition to a sustainable, climate resilient, nature-positive and equitable society.

More information on the EU contribution to the IPCC Report is available here.