Ten new insights in climate science 2023

Non-technical summary We identify a set of essential recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, across natural and social sciences: (1) looming inevitability and implications of overshooting the 1.5 degrees C warming limit, (2) urgent need for a rapid and managed fossil fuel phase-out, (3) challenges for scaling carbon dioxide removal, (4) uncertainties regarding the future contribution of natural carbon sinks, (5) intertwinedness of the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, (6) compound events, (7) mountain glacier loss, (8) human immobility in the face of climate risks, (9) adaptation justice, and (10) just transitions in food systems.Technical summary The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports provides the scientific foundation for international climate negotiations and constitutes an unmatched resource for researchers. However, the assessment cycles take multiple years. As a contribution to cross- and interdisciplinary understanding of climate change across diverse research communities, we have streamlined an annual process to identify and synthesize significant research advances. We collected input from experts on various fields using an online questionnaire and prioritized a set of 10 key research insights with high policy relevance. This year, we focus on: (1) the looming overshoot of the 1.5 degrees C warming limit, (2) the urgency of fossil fuel phase-out, (3) challenges to scale-up carbon dioxide removal, (4) uncertainties regarding future natural carbon sinks, (5) the need for joint governance of biodiversity loss and climate change, (6) advances in understanding compound events, (7) accelerated mountain glacier loss, (8) human immobility amidst climate risks, (9) adaptation justice, and (10) just transitions in food systems. We present a succinct account of these insights, reflect on their policy implications, and offer an integrated set of policy-relevant messages. This science synthesis and sc
Funding Agencies|FORMAS; Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development [2021-00273]; European Union's Horizon 2020 ERC StG, ForExD [101039567]; Australian National Environmental Science Program-Climate Systems Hub; Australian Research Council [FT210100512]; European Research Council [StG-2022-101076740, StG-2022-101077209]; Ramon y Cajal fellowship [RYC2021-031511-I]; Swiss National Science Foundation [821003, 951542]; Ministry for Business, Innovation & Employment of New Zealand [RTVU1906]; Helmholtz Association [VH-NG-1301]; Ministry of the Environment of Japan [JPMEERF21S20800]; Ministry of Education, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology of Japan [JPMXD1420318865]; Research Institute for Humanity and Nature [14200133]; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; ERA-Net ForestValue; National Aeronautics and Space Administration [80NSSC20K1296, 80NSSC20K1595]; CGIAR; Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) [SG_SECR_055_00 I]; World Resource Institute [SG_SECR_055_00 I]; Bilateral program from the Japan Society for thePromotion of Science [JPJSBP120203502, JPJSBP120229922]; Helmholtz Initiative and Networking Fund [VH-NG-1537]