Today, Friday 27 September, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published the first of three volumes of the fifth Assessment Report - the most comprehensive assessment of the science of climate change ever undertaken.

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Edward Davey conveyed the urgency of addressing the report’s latest findings and said:

The message of this report is clear - the Earth’s climate has warmed over the last century and man-made greenhouse gases have caused much of that global warming. The gases emitted now are accumulating in the atmosphere and so the solutions must be set in motion today. The risks and costs of doing nothing today are so great, only a deeply irresponsible government would be so negligent.

Without urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions this warming will continue, with potentially dangerous impacts upon our societies and economy. This strengthens the case for international leaders to work for an ambitious, legally binding global agreement in 2015 to cut carbon emissions.

This report is the most authoritative , credible analysis of climate change science ever. It represents a huge amount of work by over 250 unpaid scientific experts drawn from universities and research institutes in 39 different countries around the world. We owe them our gratitude because this report makes clear what is at stake if we don’t act.

Note for editors:

Highlights from the AR5 Summary

• Human influence on the climate system is clear. This is evident in most regions of the globe.
• Warming in the climate system is unequivocal.
• Global surface temperature change for the end of the 21st century is projected to be likely to exceed 1.5°C relative to 1850 to 1900 in all but the lowest scenario considered, and likely to exceed 2°C for the two high scenarios
• Projections of climate change are based on a new set of four scenarios of future greenhouse gas concentrations and aerosols, spanning a wide range of possible futures. The Working Group I report assessed global and regional-scale climate change for the early, mid-, and later 21st century.

IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5): The Latest Assessment of Climate Science

The UK is committed to reducing its emissions by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, compared to the 1990 baseline. These targets are enshrined in law: the Climate Change Act (2008), and the government’s performance against them is monitored by an independent Climate Change Committee. We are progressively decarbonising our energy sector, transport and economy and have introduced incentives to reduce domestic energy consumption. The proposed Energy Bill will enable low carbon technologies to compete in the electricity market and attract investment.

Internationally, we are working towards a binding global deal to reduce emissions at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties in 2015. We agreed, as part of the EU, to enter the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and are pressing the EU to move to a 30% emissions reduction target by 2020 and 50% by 2030 in the context of a global comprehensive agreement on climate change. Alongside this, the UK is providing £3.87 billion through its International Climate Fund (ICF) to support developing countries, to demonstrate low carbon development, protect forests and to help the poorest countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.