Climate threatens 'cascade of tipping points'

Experts in ecological tipping points have warned that billions of people are at risk as global warming is expected to exceed 1.5C within a few years.

A Global Tipping Points Conference in Exeter with almost 200 delegates this month endorsed a statement calling for action from policymakers – especially leaders meeting at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil later this year.

They state: “Already tropical coral reefs have crossed their tipping point and are experiencing unprecedented dieback, impairing the livelihoods of hundreds of millions who depend on them.”

Critical

And they warn that a cascade of further tipping points – including the collapse of crucial ocean currents and dieback of the Amazon rainforest – could follow. Every fraction of a degree above 1.5°C matters. And every year of “overshoot” matters too.

The Brazilian presidency of COP30 has repeatedly highlighted tipping points in its communications, and the new statement joins the COP organisers in calling on governments to help trigger positive tipping points in their societies and economies.

By doing this, they can rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions, and protect and restore the ecosystems that provide critical life support systems.

Triggering

Professor Tim Lenton, from the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter, said: “We need decisive policy and civil society action – this is imperative for human rights and planetary health, and it’s ultimately a matter of survival.”

Mike Barrett, WWF’s Chief Scientific Adviser, said: “The risks of global tipping points are real, and the consequences catastrophic. And if we wait until we are experiencing the impacts, then we will also know it is already too late to act.