The Green Party has issued a warning that time is running out to act on climate change following the publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) report.

The IPCC assessment on the state of climate change finds that climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying; and that many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years. This is the first part of the sixth assessment.

Responding to the report, Green Party Leader, Minister for Climate Eamon Ryan TD, said: "Today's report by the IPCC is a stark reminder that the window to act on climate change is closing. For Ireland the report predicts more intense heatwaves and increased flooding as temperatures rise. Some changes, such as sea level rise, are irreversible.

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"We recently passed the Climate Act which puts us on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, and what this report tells us is that there is no time to waste. We need to act now. The Climate Action Plan that we will publish soon will set out what we need to do this decade, including changes in how we generate our energy, get around, heat our homes, grow our food and look after our land.

"We know what we have to do. We now need to harness a national and global effort to do it. Failure to act will have devastating consequences, particularly for those vulnerable populations who have done the least to cause climate change."  

Green Party Spokesperson for Climate Action and Environment and Chair of the Committee on Climate Action, Brian Leddin TD, added: "Today's IPCC report is the most comprehensive assessment on the state of climate change since 2013. It makes for sobering reading and reminds us of the urgent need to reach a new global consensus for action on climate at the upcoming COP26 in Glasgow.  

"The report has shown that every tonne of CO₂ emissions is adding to global warming, and that unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5°C will be beyond our reach. 

"Time is running out, and we must take action now. We have taken the first important step in Ireland with the passing of the Climate Act, which commits us to halving our greenhouse gas emissions in a decade, and the Climate Action Plan being published shortly will show that Ireland is ready to play its part in meeting this global challenge."