In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlighted the unprecedented scale of the challenge required to keep warming to 1.5°C (or 2.7°F). Five years later, that challenge has become even greater due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
The warning
The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Synthesis Report warns that the pace and scale of climate action are insufficient to tackle climate change. More than a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unequal and unsustainable energy and land use has led to global warming of 1.1°C (2.0°F) above pre-industrial levels. This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impacts on nature and people in every region of the world.
According to the IPCC, every increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards. More intense heatwaves, heavier rainfall, and other weather extremes further increase risks for human health and ecosystems. Increased warming also increases food and water insecurity. As risks combine and grow, they become even more difficult to manage.
Taking the right action now could result in the transformational change essential for a sustainable, equitable world.
The challenge
We need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half by 2030 to create a safer and more sustainable world. We need to scale up practices and infrastructure to enhance resilience. This climate action needs to happen along several dimensions and needs to be designed for diverse contexts. Further, increased financing for climate action at a level three to six times the current climate investment is needed.
The hope
Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action now will reduce losses and damages. We currently have multiple, feasible, and effective options available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have the ability to adapt to human-caused climate change.
Integrating measures to adapt to climate change with climate action provides wider benefits:
- Improving people’s health and livelihoods
- Reducing poverty and hunger
- Providing clean energy, water, and air
The resilience
Fairness is one of the solutions. and lies in developing climate resilience. This involves integrating measures to adapt to climate change with actions to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in ways that provide wider benefits.
“Climate justice is crucial because those who have contributed least to climate change are being
-Aditi Mukherji, one of the 93 authors of this Synthesis Report
disproportionately affected.”
Climate resilient development becomes progressively more challenging with every increment of warming. This is why the choices made in the next few years will play a critical role in deciding our future and that of generations to come.
Resiliency to be effective needs to be rooted in our diverse values, worldviews, and scientific, Indigenous Knowledge, and local knowledge. This approach will allow locally appropriate, socially acceptable solutions.
Our climate is interconnected with society and ecosystems. Effective and equitable conservation of approximately 30-50% of the Earth’s land, freshwater, and ocean will help ensure a healthy planet. Changes in the food sector, electricity, transport, industry, buildings, and land use can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, foster low-carbon lifestyles, and enable health and well-being. A better understanding of the consequences of overconsumption can help people make more informed choices.