Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, has responded to Monday’s incredible UN Report on Climate Change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its newest report, where they have used its strongest terms yet to assert that humans are the cause for global climate change.
The IPCC is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations that is dedicated to providing the world with objective, scientific information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of the risk of human-induced climate change, its natural, political, and economic impacts and risks, and possible response options.
The first line of the report summary reads: “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.” It goes on to mention that: “The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole and the present state of many aspects of the climate system are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years”.
The report, authored by 234 scientists in 66 countries, found “it is more likely than not” that the world will reach 1.5C sometime over the next 20 years. And far greater global warming is possible if little is done to tackle rapidly rising emissions. Temperatures currently stand at around 1.2C above pre-industrial levels.
The report points out that climate change is responsible for the extreme weather conditions that are affecting many regions around the world. It says: “Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. Evidence of observed changes in extremes such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones, and, in particular, their attribution to human influence.”
The last IPCC report was in 2013, where the team of scientists were “95%
the certainty that human activity is the dominant cause of observed warming since the mid-20th century”, a stark difference to the language they use now.
Mayor Brabin said: “Today’s UN report confirms what we already know; human activity is responsible for global warming, and we urgently need to change our behaviours to save the planet, that’s why I’ve made tackling the climate emergency one of my mayoral pledges.
“I have a bold ambition to make West Yorkshire a net-zero carbon economy by 2038, with significant progress by 2030.
“Meeting this challenge requires collective action from across all sectors, and will empower our region to build a modern, sustainable economy supported by an efficient transport network, green and climate-ready infrastructure, and improved air quality.”
Next month, they mayor is going to publish her Climate and Environment Action plan that will outline the steps that West Yorkshire is going to take to commit to a decarbonised, net-zero area.
Mayor Brabin said: “In September, we will publish a Climate and Environment Action Plan to bring this vision to life, enabling the Combined Authority to commit to net-zero operations by 2038, decarbonise our transport system through green technologies like electric vehicles, improve the energy efficiency of our homes and offices, accelerate investment in natural flood management, and create green jobs so that the people of West Yorkshire can excel in the careers of the future.
“I want to ensure delivering a net-zero economy is integral to the region’s recovery from COVID-19 and that we lead the way in protecting the environment for current and future generations.”
