Global 'tipping point' warning

World leaders must take “immediate, unprecedented action” to prevent devastating climate tipping points, experts say.

The Global Tipping Points Conference was taking place in Exeter this week, and almost 200 delegates endorsed a statement calling for action from policymakers – especially leaders meeting at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil later this year.

With global warming expected to exceed 1.5C within a few years, the experts warn that billions of people are at risk from climate tipping points.

They write: “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.”

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.

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. The good news is that we know what to do to avert this – not least restoring nature and transitioning energy and food systems. But the time to act is now. Later is already too late.

“Governments and businesses must rapidly align their policies and financial flows to limit global warming and halt the destruction of nature to minimise the risk of triggering further dangerous tipping points. Instead, we must catalyse positive tipping points, especially in restoring nature which is one of our major allies in tacking climate change.”