Lead Author for the Small States for the IPCC Special Report 1.5, Dr. Morgan Wairui.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report calls for action to cap global warming to one point five degrees Celsius.

With 197 countries signing up to the Paris Accord, collective action to cut carbon emissions is one of the key areas in the fight against the impacts of climate change.

Lead Author for the Small States for the IPCC Special Report 1.5, Dr. Morgan Wairui says the science is clear, in order to cap the global average temperature to 1.5 degree Celsius, there needs to be net zero emissions by 2050 or a 45 percent reduction in greenhouse gases to 2010 levels by 2030.

However, this week, President Donald Trump announced that the United States of America will begin to formally withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

Despite this, Dr. Morgan says there is an urgency for other members to step up.

“It’s now, some of the parties, they are now putting together actions that will counter what the USA is doing so which is a good sign but then we need everybody doing that, you know collective action even if one party withdraws.”

197 countries have signed the Paris Accord which comes under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, aimed to reduce gas emission.

The accord is not legally binding.