Climate change, COP26 and the Royal Society

Read the Royal Society's response to the publication of the IPCC reports.

The Royal Society is hosting a conference in April 2022 to examine what the IPCC’s findings mean for the UK.

COP26, the United Nations climate change conference, took place in Glasgow in November 2021.

Net zero by 2050

Following on from the COP26 agreement and the publication of the reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), technologies and research will be crucial to delivering net zero. The Royal Society has highlighted 12 critical areas that should be prioritised for achieving ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions and responding to climate change. Explore the briefings.

Read Professor Eric Wolff FRS's reflections on the outcome of the COP26 conference in his blog post Half full or half empty?

Read a blog post from Vice-President of the Royal Society, Professor Peter Bruce FRS, on Science, engineering, and technology: essential partners on the road to net zero. 

The basics of climate change

In 2020 we worked with the US National Academy of Sciences to review and update the science and statistics behind answers to 20 key questions from the public around climate change. Discover the answers to your questions.

Reversing biodiversity loss

Today, the Earth is losing biodiversity at rates not seen in the modern era. Sir David Attenborough describes the purpose and plight of biodiversity in this short animation. We've also answered 16 key questions about biodiversity, and summarised the major challenges and opportunities for action on biodiversity.

Further resources

We're also producing briefings for policy makers, classroom resources, event series, blog posts, scientific journal articles and engaging interactive experiences to help better communicate the challenges we're facing.