Screenshot of a tweet from @jodcoll overlaid on a picture of a forest fire. It says "Listen, we are all to blame for the climate crisis. Some of us drive to work, some of us forget to recycle, and some of us own fossil fuel companies whose relentless exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves can be directly linked to more than one-third of all greenh" (deliberate truncation)
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The 14 best tweets about the 2021 IPCC climate report

After the IPCC report on the latest climate science was released in August 2021, there was no shortage of commentary on social media. All sorts of experts filled the newsfeeds. Here are some of the best.

Scientists helped us break down what’s going on

Firstly, there was no shortage of helpful and knowledgeable people getting into the detail of the work – its findings. 

Given that this is a really detailed report, penned by thousands of scientists worldwide, really useful summaries wouldn’t fit in just one tweet. Here’s one of the best science breakdowns:

There was some viral analysis on how doing nothing would quickly eclipse the cost of ambitious climate action – like the Green New Deal being proposed in the US:

But for all the grownups breaking it down for us, more often than not the most stark analysis was seized upon by youth climate activists:

And what it means if action continues to be delayed: 

Some took aim at Boris Johnson’s plan for an oil field off the Shetland Islands.

Lots of people came through with reminders of who’s most responsible

Posters were pretty clear on describing who was to blame:

Some even managed to make us LOL, on this very point:

Climate justice, rightfully, was at the top of the agenda for global report release day. And no, the UK doesn’t get a pass simply for not being one of the biggest emitters today: 

There was no shortage of ideas and inspiration for how to act on the news

Scientists, academic and journalists gave us many, many inspiring ideas for what to read or do next – the best antidote to the feeling of hopelessness that bad climate news can bring.

First, a handy reminder that big climate report weeks are never easy, but in the immortal words of Mary Annaïse Heglar, “home is always worth it”: 

Again, activists and academics were bursting with ideas on what people could do if they felt disheartened (but these are all threads of multiple tweets, because, happily – there’s loads that can be done):

And finally, the report came out on Indigenous Peoples’ Day – and many saw how fitting this was

By some magic of coincidence, the day of the report’s release was also Indigenous Peoples’ Day. And more than one account pointed out how important the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples is in tackling climate change:


In this piece, we’ve chosen some of the reactions we think readers will find useful, funny or thought-provoking, but views quoted here aren’t necessarily those of Greenpeace.