A REVERED professor of the ANU research school of earth sciences has painted a bleak picture of whether reducing carbon emissions has got beyond the point of preventing catastrophic climate change. 

Professor Nerilie Abram is the only Australian-based climatologist named in an international scientific body that believes the planet has five years left to get on top of a global problem.

The Climate Crisis Advisory Group has been launched to provide independent expert advice and guidance to global leaders to combat a “climate crisis” that according to its chairman Sir David King has just “got worse with growing emissions and rising risks, while watching greenhouse gases increase year after year”.

Prof Abram said urgent action is required by governments including Australia’s whose Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called the UNESCO process “appalling” over this week’s listing of the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger” despite claims the Commonwealth and Queensland governments have together forked out $3 billion on reef sciences.

“People and ecosystems are already suffering from the impacts of climate change across the world and these impacts will worsen unless we move quickly to radically reduce global greenhouse gas emissions,” Prof Abram said.

“But we’ve also let this problem get to the point where rapid emission reductions alone won’t be enough.

“We also need to develop ways to remove the large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and to preserve critical parts of the earth system while we still can.”

The group comprises 14 world-leading experts from a range of climate-related disciplines that believe despite mounting evidence, not enough is being done to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Prof Abram has joined colleagues calling on international leaders to take action to reduce, remove and repair fundamental environmental problems that includes:

• Current targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction are not enough. Nations need to triple their emissions-cutting pledges to limit the effects of the climate crisis.
• The world needs large-scale investment to develop and large scale techniques to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
• Deep research is needed to explore and investigate safe methods and technologies to repair parts of our damaged climate systems.