The investigation found that corporate interests "watered down" the latest IPCC climate report

Acrimonious negotiations between countries trying to protect their financial and political interests ended up "watering down" the landmark climate report released last week by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, according to a series of recent reports and investigations. The findings point to what activists have long warned is preventing meaningful global action to limit warming, that vested interests prevent countries from cooperating when it comes to exactly how they plan to cut their emissions and finance adaptation efforts. The IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, published on March 20, is a synthesis of years of expert research on the causes and consequences of the climate crisis and is likely to be the last update from the international climate body before it becomes impossible to prevent global warming of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Scientists say that once this threshold is crossed, entire ecosystems could collapse and millions of people would likely lose their lives by the end of the century due to intensifying heat waves, storms and famines. But while scientists largely agreed on their part of the summary report, which consisted of condensing seven years of complex scientific findings into 85 pages, far more volatile negotiations took place behind closed doors over a shorter summary of the report aimed at policymakers. The process of approving this summary of the report, which took place earlier this month in Switzerland, requires the unanimous consent of delegates from all 195 participating countries, making it an extremely difficult and complex undertaking.