Experts and campaigners defend UK minister in charge of Cop26 talks amid furore over diplomatic plane trips
The starkest warning yet on how close the global climate is to the point of no return will be delivered to the world on Monday morning, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – made up of the world’s top climate scientists – publishes a landmark report.
Details are still under wraps, but the Guardian has confirmed that the warning from the IPCC will reinforce how vital it is to try to prevent temperatures from reaching more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Beyond that threshold, scientists will warn, the consequences of extreme weather will be devastating. The world must act urgently: if greenhouse gas emissions are not halved in this decade, 1.5C of heating will be inevitable and probably irreversible.