THE Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its sixth assessment report on Monday, March 20, 2023. This report consists of more than 10,000 pages of work and is the first synthesis report published since the end of 2014.

According to the report summary, climate change will have a significant short-term impact on forests, particularly tropical forests. As a result, certain tropical forests are among the ecosystems that have already reached beyond their adaptive limitations. Carbon removal is essential to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C.

However, more than deep decarbonization across all systems while enhancing resilience will be required to accomplish the global climate goals. The IPCC finds that all pathways that restrict warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) with no or limited overshoot rely on some quantity of carbon removal. These methods include organic ones, like storing carbon in the earth and trees, and more recent ones, like technologies that directly take carbon dioxide out of the air.

To conserve and remove forest carbon, Guyana’s forest, which is approximately 18 million hectares, stores about 19.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and removes approximately 154 million tons of CO2 annually.

Further, biodiversity and human civilizations must be considered holistically in climate change adaptation. To adjust to these changes in a sustainable and fair way for everyone, we need to consider how climate change will affect all living things and communities.

Guyana has already advanced in a number of those areas. According to the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, it is visionary in including a broader ecosystem approach to development, specifically low carbon development, from a national standpoint. It also emphasises the importance of biodiversity, freshwater management, and the blue economy in developing Guyana’s natural resources.

Additionally, the protection and restoration of ecosystems and responsible forest management present significant difficulties that must be overcome. In addition to finding methods to repair the ecosystems that have been harmed by human activity, we need to figure out how to manage forests sustainably and without harming the environment. The success of forest adaptation in many areas depends on collaboration, inclusive decision-making, and acknowledgement of the inherent rights of local communities and indigenous peoples.

Despite the challenges, Guyana is taking action now so the country can still achieve the 1.5°C warming goals by 2100. In addition to finding methods to adapt to the effects of climate change in a manner that is sustainable and fair for everyone, the countries must act immediately to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, invest in carbon sequestration technologies, and take other steps to help with the effects of climate change.

THE REPORT
The IPCC reports are based on scientific facts from the analysis of over 500,000 scientific publications worldwide. This latest report synthesises the essential data and information contained in the writings of the three working groups of the 6th Assessment Report:
Working Group, I (WG I): the physical science basis of climate change, released on August 9, 2021,
Working Group II (WG II): impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability, released on February 28, 2022,
Working Group III (WG III): mitigation of climate change [feasible solutions, i.e., policy options and measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, socio-economic costs of these options] released on April 4, 2022.

This synthesis report includes a summary for policymakers of about ten pages and a complete report of about fifty pages. The text of the synthesis report is written in accessible and non-technical language, intended primarily for policymakers (within national governments), administrations, policy advisers, and other experts, NGOs, and journalists. It is important to note that IPCC experts carry out this analysis work voluntarily.

As the IPCC report emphasises the role of the forest in fighting global climate change, Guyana continues to play an integral role in ensuring that the country and its people contribute towards having a safer and greener economy in the wider world. (This is part of a weekly series on LCDS.) The author can be contacted at cparkinson0206@gmail.com