IPCC climate report - live: ‘Atlas of human suffering’ shows how crisis will impact billions across world

Follow live updates as UN climate scientists publish major new report on impact of crisis

Watch live as UN releases report on impact of climate crisis

Half of the world are highly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, according to a new landmark UN report which has been called an “atlas of human suffering”.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said global warming was “a threat to human wellbeing and planetary health” as it explored how rising temperatures are affecting communities and ecosystems, and what capacity there is to adapt.

More than 200 scientists from around the world have contributed to the latest assessment, which is considered the most authoritative look at the climate crisis and is published every seven years.

The UN secretary-general said the report showed “damning indictment of failed climate leadership”.

Key Points

• Half of global population highly vulnerable to impacts of climate crisis, IPCC report says
• Key takeaways from 36-page report
• IPCC report ‘atlas of human suffering’, UN secretary-general
• Dealing with climate crisis offers a path to peace and stability - analysis from our environment correspondent
• Mental health discussed for first time in IPCC report

[28 February 2022 12:37 · Zoe Tidman]

Key stories on IPCC findings

Our environment correspondent Harry Cockburn has put together some stories on the key findings from the IPCC report in a handy Twitter thread:

[28 February 2022 12:26 · Zoe Tidman]

IPCC report ends with warning against ‘further delay in concerted global action’

The IPCC report ended with a stark warning. Here it is:

[28 February 2022 12:19 · Zoe Tidman]

Heat-related deaths in Europe ‘may treble if world warms 3C'

The UN report looks at different regions of the world and what specific risks and impacts they face - as well as what adaptations they can make.

In Europe, death and illness from heat were identified as key risks.

We report on its warnings here:

[28 February 2022 12:13 · Zoe Tidman]

Mental health discussed for first time in IPCC report

The climate crisis is adversely affecting mental health as extreme weather events cause trauma and livelihoods are lost, a landmark United Nations report has said.

This is a key moment: it is the first time the world’s leading authority on climate science has spelled out this connection.

Read more here:

[28 February 2022 12:11 · Zoe Tidman]

‘Climate change isn’t lurking around the corner ready to pounce'

The head of the UN Environment Programme says the climate crisis is not “lurking around the corner” but “already upon us” after the report’s launch:

[28 February 2022 12:03 · Zoe Tidman]

IPCC report ‘atlas of human suffering’, UN secretary-general says

The UN secretary-general says he has seen ‘nothing like’ the new IPCC climate report before.

Here are his striking comments:

[28 February 2022 11:54 · Zoe Tidman]

‘Delay means death'

Greta Thunberg has tweeted out powerful comments from the UN secretary-general on the IPCC report:

[28 February 2022 11:51 · Zoe Tidman]

Dealing with climate crisis offers a path to peace and stability - analysis from our environment correspondent

The UN report has an interesting part on violent conflict, saying threats to peace are reduced through climate adaption.

“Even as it is under attack, Ukraine is recognising this”, our environment correspondent, Harry Cockburn, writes.

Read his analysis on the link between the climate crisis and conflict - laid out in the IPCC report - here:

[28 February 2022 11:44 · Zoe Tidman]

Cities ‘hotspots’ for damaging impacts but present key opportunities, UN report says

The scientists took an interesting look at cities: what threats do they face and what opportunities they present.

While they are hotspots for the damaging impacts of the climate crisis, the IPCC showed ways they can adapt for the better.

[28 February 2022 11:20 · Zoe Tidman]

‘Our atmosphere is already on steroids,’ expert says at report launch

“Our atmosphere is already on steroids - doped with fossil fuels. This is already leading to longer, stronger and more extreme weather events,” Petteri Taalas from the World Meteorological Organisation tells the press conference for the report launch,

“Climate change-induced disasters come with high human and economic impacts. More than four in 10 people in the world live in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change.”