Comment

As the dust settles on the UK elections, our climate and energy analyst Dr Neil Grant looks at the climate challenges ahead for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

Australia is unlikely to achieve its net zero target. This is because of its support for fossil gas to 2050 and beyond, it’s long-term emissions reduction plan resorts to unrealistic technological fixes and emissions offsets and because its legislated target of a 43% emissions cut by 2030 is not aligned with a 1.5°C pathway to net zero by 2050.

Despite its climate vulnerabilities, Africa was highly underrepresented in the last IPCC cycle. As governments start planning the IPCC’s seventh assessment cycle, more funding and support for African climate science – and scientists – could help address this and result in more equitable climate policies.

"One of the key things about this whole problem is that the only way to solve it is that we need to rapidly reduce and phase out fossil fuels. That can’t wait a decade. We need to be making substantial reductions this decade," Bill Hare said in address to the Australia Institute’s Climate Integrity Summit on 20 March 2024.

The IPCC says we need to peak global greenhouse gas emissions before 2025 to limit warming to 1.5ºC. We dive into the latest research to see if this deadline can be met.

Last week in Istanbul, climate scientists and governments met in the sixtieth session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to agree a plan for its seventh, and potentially most consequential report cycle. The outcome means the IPCC will most probably take a more streamlined approach to its seventh cycle.