Latest UN Climate Change Report Stresses the Need for Business Actions

Many cleaning industry companies are focusing on green practices and sustainability, as they recognize the importance role businesses can play in protecting the environment. Their actions continue to be crucial, as evidenced by the latest climate change update from the United Nations.

Key takeaways of the newest report point that human actions are undoubtedly causing climate change, compared to previous reports that said it was “extremely likely” that industrial activity was to blame, Reuters reports.

Even if governments and businesses act immediately to enact severe cuts to carbon dioxide emissions, their actions are unlikely to prevent global warning of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial temperatures. Without immediate steep emissions cuts, however, average temperatures could increase by more than 3.6 degrees F by the end of the century.

The report notes that weather extremes once considered rare or unprecedented, such as hurricanes, are becoming more common—a trend that will continue even if the world limits global warming to 2.7 degrees F. Severe droughts are happening 1.7 times as often. These droughts are leading to extended wildfire seasons that are getting more intense.

The UN panel predicts sea levels are sure to keep rising as polar ice sheets melt and warming ocean water expands. Flooding has nearly doubled in many coastal areas since the 1960s, with once-in-a-century coastal surges set to occur once a year by 2100. Even if global warming were halted at 2.7F, the average sea level would still rise about 6 to 10 feet.

Climate experts are urging the various industries to pay attention to the report and take action, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“This report tells us that we probably need even more action by all the major economies to work together to avoid even worse impacts than we’re already seeing now,” said Jane Lubchenco, deputy director for climate and the environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. 

“We know there is no going back from some changes in the climate system, but some can be slowed or stopped if emissions are reduced,” said Ko Barrett, vice chair of the panel and the senior adviser for climate at the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).