Reacting to the release today, in Switzerland, of the 6th Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), ZERO points out that the experts considered the objective of keeping global warming below 1.5ºC “difficult, but achievable”, as long as there is “political will”.

In 2015, in Paris, almost all member countries of the United Nations pledged to limit global warming to an increase of 1.5 degrees celsius (°C) above pre-industrial values, but “current policies” have led to “an approximation of 3°C”.

The “best way” to stop the climate crisis is to eliminate fossil fuels, recalls ZERO, stressing that “the solutions to achieve this exist”, namely technological ones.

According to the non-governmental organization, "the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees is not 0.5 - the impacts would be twice as bad or more for many risks (access to clean water, loss of biodiversity, increased poverty and immigration, among many others)".

“The cost of inaction will be much higher from many different perspectives: Whether financially or socially and also for governments, companies, and families”, says the environmentalist association, adding that the IPCC report “shows the enormous benefits of sustainable development, rapid deployment of solar and wind energy and other uses of renewable energy, as well as increased energy savings, with massively reduced costs”.

Also remembering that the “climate impacts” already affect everyone on the planet, “but not in the same way”, ZERO urges those who “historically polluted much more” to make a greater effort for the necessary reduction of global emissions of greenhouse gases greenhouse “by at least 43% by 2030”.

“The IPCC report assesses Europe as the 2nd largest historically emitting region (1850-2019) after North America”, says the statement, warning that “in case greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow, 1.5°C could be reached by 2030-2035.”

“There is a reason why there is talk of a maximum temperature rise of 1.5° Celsius. It's not a wish, not a buzzword... It's a scientific survival target. As dramatic as it may be, the equation is quite straightforward: We know the problems and the solutions, what remains is the political will”, says the president of ZERO, Francisco Ferreira, quoted in the statement.

Regarding the European Union (EU), the NGO considers that “the European Ecological Pact has to be more ambitious” and that the bloc “should update” the target of reducing emissions from 55% to “at least 65% by 2030 in relation to 1990” to “be compatible with the Paris Agreement”.

Arguing that “EU countries need to reflect national-scale objectives in the ongoing review of their National Energy and Climate Plans (PNEC)”, ZERO warns that, in the case of Portugal, “much better demand management is needed” of energy, with emphasis on measures that effectively provide a reduction in emissions in individual road transport, more comfortable and efficient buildings and investments in renewable energy sources applied sustainably”.

“We need the European Union, and Portugal in particular, to be climate leaders and to contribute seriously and coherently to get us out of the many crises we face, giving a historic boost and once and for all, publicly committing to what we all they know what needs to happen to avoid even more dire consequences: discarding fossil fuels and protecting people and the planet”, says Francisco Ferreira.