Latest from the IPCC

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COP27 climate summit started last Sunday in Egypt, with the world leaders relying on U.N. climate science agency studies to decide on future environmental policy.

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publishes reports approximately every five years representing the global scientific consensus on climate change, including its causes and impacts. The latest IPCC report on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability was released in February 2022; the IPCC mitigation report was published in last April. What are the most central giveaways from the 2022 IPCC reports?

Adaptation report

With extreme weather phenomena already occurring worldwide, the report urged rich and developing countries alike to adapt now to impacts, including more frequent heatwaves, storms and sea level rise. The report also

• Presented localized risk and impact projections for different regions globally

• Warned about millions of people facing poverty and food insecurity in coming years as climate change impacts crops and water supplies

• Loss and damage fund: the report suggested for a fund through which rich nations would compensate costs already being incurred by poor countries in climate-fueled disasters

Mitigation report

It's "now or never", said one report co-chair in releasing findings showing that only drastic emissions cuts in the next few decades would keep warming from spiraling out of control. According to the report, one key measure in achieving this are carbon dioxide removals (CDR). The mitigation report also

• Stated that the energy transition to renewable sources and clean-burning fuels is moving too slowly

• Illustrated how various emissions scenarios would likely translate into future temperature rise

• Urged climate action with emissions from both agriculture and cities.

The delegates at COP27 will be relying on the work of IPCC to inform their decisions about future energy plans and the expected warming trajectories.

Let's jump into this week's major headlines.

EU's Carbon Allowance (ETS) price development

UK's Carbon Allowance (ETS) price development

Major News Roundup

Reuters | COP27 kicks off with deal to discuss climate compensation. Delegates from nearly 200 countries kicked off the U.N. climate summit in Egypt on Sunday with an agreement to discuss compensating developing nations for mounting damage linked to global warming, placing the controversial topic on the agenda for the first time since climate talks began decades ago.

• Reuters | Reeling from floods, Pakistan seeks climate compensation, debt relief. The prime minister of Pakistan said his country would need debt relief and seek compensation for climate damage as it recovers from catastrophic floods that have cost the country some $30 billion.

• The Guardian | Who’s who at Cop27: the leaders who hold the world’s future in their hands

The Guardian | U.N. on climate crisis: past eight years were the eight hottest ever. A new report also warns: "The sea level rise accelerates, European glacier melt shatters records, and extreme weather causes devastation."

Aljazeera | UN Adaptation Gap Report 2022: "Too little, too late". According to the report, the world is falling short at providing money to assist struggling nations adapt to the increasingly dangerous impacts of climate change.

Reuters | Brazil's Lula hopes to unite rainforest nations, tap funding at COP27. A new alliance of countries with rainforests could be a key to unlocking conservation funding and bolstering a flagging global forest pact at the COP27 climate summit, environmentalists say.

YLE | What are consequences if the world average temperature rises 2 degrees instead of 1,5 by the end of this century? Researches warn that the effects of climate change multiply as the average temperature rise, causing extreme heats, droughts, floods and loss of insects, among other life-threatening consequences.

Reuters | IMF chief says $75/ton carbon price needed by 2030 for global climate goals to succeed. Currently, the European Union price carbon above that level: the EU's benchmark price is around 76 euros a tonne. Other regions, such as the U.S. state of California, see carbon allowances selling for just under $30 per ton; some regions have no price at all.

Latest environmental news from Finland

YLE | Sanna Marin at COP27: "We are facing a critical decade." The U.N. climate conference gathers the world leaders for two weeks to discuss and find solutions to climate change.

HS | Greenpeace obstructed the unloading of Finnish imported forestry products in Germany. Greenpeace demanded the European ministers of effective climate and environmental policy acts despite "the resistance of Northern European countries Finland and Sweden".

HS | Hunting competition planned in Kainuu received with criticism – natural philosopher: "Could you imagine an ethically more repulsive contest?"

HS | Ohisalo accuses the Finnish forestry of excessive intimidation regarding the Nature Restoration Law. The minister of the Environment and Climate Change also calls for a rescue package for Finnish carbon sinks.

Climate Pledges and action

Reuters | China announces plan to curb rising methane emissions. The world's highest methane emitter plans on promoting new technologies and financing mechanisms to slash rising emissions of the greenhouse gas that traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide, the country's top climate official said.

Reuters | COP27: Major food firms detail plans to eliminate deforestation by 2025. The world's largest food trading companies detailed a plan on Monday to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains for soy, beef and palm oil by 2025, a step seen as essential to averting catastrophic climate change. The roadmap, launched at the COP27 United Nations climate summit in Egypt, comprises 14 firms including Cargill, Bunge (BG.N), Archer Daniels Midland, Louis Dreyfus Company, Brazil's JBS (JBSS3.SA) and China's COFCO International.

Reuters | EU reaches deal on national CO2 emission cut targets. The new legislation called Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) sets national targets to reduce overall carbon emissions by the end of the decade across sectors including agriculture, buildings and transport.

Reuters | U.S. looks to companies to fund more of energy transition at COP27. The U.S. proposes that companies buy carbon credits and the proceeds be used to fund renewable energy projects in countries seeking to replace fossil fuels such as coal.

Reuters | Australian regulator investigating more firms for 'greenwashing'. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has been increasing its oversight of climate-related reporting. Last month, it fined an energy firm A$53,280 ($34,600) over statements that the electricity it produced would be carbon-neutral - the regulator's first such action.

Latest from the academics on environment, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration

Breadfruit has the potential to support food security in African countries and help with climate change adaptation. Increased cultivation of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), a neglected and underutilized species (NUS), holds the potential to enhance climate resilience and the overall sustainability of low-latitude agricultural systems. The yield quality and consistency of breadfruit showed minimal decreases under a high emission scenario simulated in the study. The study was published in the Plos Climate Journal.

University of Maryland | Entomologists issue warning about effects of climate change on insects. In a new scientific review, a team of 70 scientists from 19 countries warned that if no steps are taken to shield insects from the consequences of climate change, it will "drastically reduce our ability to build a sustainable future based on healthy, functional ecosystems." The study was published in the Ecological Monographs journal.

University of Witwatersrand | Climate change to impact mountains on a global scale. Under the threat of climate change, mountain landscapes globally are at risk of becoming more hazardous to communities surrounding them. Their accelerated evolution may also bring further environmental risks to surrounding areas. Research shows climate change will negatively impact mountain landscapes and human activity; the impending risks include avalanches, river floods, landslides, debris flows and lake outburst floods.

Open sustainability positions

Picture of the week: Prolonged drought in Kenya has been fatal to hundreds of elephants, wildebeests, and zebras

References: Latest from the IPCC

• Explainer: What the latest IPCC science says about climate change – Reuters

• IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability 

• IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change

• Now the IPCC has recognized that carbon removals are critical to addressing climate chanage, it's time to act – McKinsey