IPCC report: fossil fuels are “choking humanity”

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility​ (ACCR)  is responding to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

Dan Gocher, Director of Climate & Environment at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) said:

“At a time when communities in Queensland and NSW are suffering from unprecedented flooding, the IPCC is again telling us what we already know. Climate change is causing widespread chaos and disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable.

“As UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: ‘coal and other fossil fuels are choking humanity’.

“Guterres also put oil and gas companies on notice: ‘You cannot claim to be green while your plans and projects undermine the 2050 net-zero target and ignore the major emissions cuts that must occur this decade.’

"Guterres specifically called out greenwashing: companies' hollow commitments to net zero while planning massive growth in emissions.

"ACCR will continue to call out greenwashing in all its forms. The time for companies to act is now.

“Some companies and investors may still try to argue that efforts required to limit warming to 1.5 degrees are a ‘nice to have’ rather than essential to the survival of billions, along with the critical ecosystems on which we depend.

“Their mentality is heinous.

“The IPCC report spells out an even more dangerous path ahead for Australia: bushfires, floods, extreme weather and inundation of low-lying coastal areas.

“If Australian fossil fuel companies won’t take the action needed, it is up to investors to demand action.”