Billions of people will suffer from 'unavoidable climate hazards'
A resident flees the village of Gouves, on the island of Evia, Greece, last August. Even temporarily exceeding 1.5C in global warming will result in extreme impacts, some of which will not be reversible according to an IPCC report
The planet now faces “unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades” because of human-induced climate change, exacerbating the already “dangerous and widespread disruption” to nature and billions of people.
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Those are just some of the grim conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body of assembled scientists tasked with examining the impact of incontrovertible global warming.
Even temporarily exceeding 1.5C in global warming will result in extreme impacts, some of which will not be reversible, the report said.
Low-lying regions will be particularly vulnerable, the scientists said.
Chair of the IPCC, Hoesung Lee, said: “This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction. It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet. Our actions today will shape how people adapt and nature responds to increasing climate risks.”
Taking action to avert and mitigate climate catastrophe cannot wait, the scientists found.
"These weather extremes are occurring simultaneously, causing cascading impacts that are increasingly difficult to manage. They have exposed millions of people to acute food and water insecurity, especially in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, on Small Islands and in the Arctic,” the IPCC said.
The latest IPCC report involved 270 authors from 67 countries, plus 675 contributing authors, more than 34,000 cited references, and almost 62,500 expert and government review comments.
The report’s summary has been accepted by 195 governments across the world.
Accelerated action is required to adapt to climate change, while simultaneously making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the IPCC said.
So far, progress is uneven and there are increasing gaps between action taken and what is needed to deal with the increasing risks, the new report finds.
These gaps are largest among lower-income populations, it added.
Restoration of nature will be key not just for biodiversity, but for people, the scientists found.
IPCC Working Group II co-chair Hans-Otto Pörtner said: “By restoring degraded ecosystems and effectively and equitably conserving 30% to 50% of Earth’s land, freshwater and ocean habitats, society can benefit from nature’s capacity to absorb and store carbon, and we can accelerate progress towards sustainable development.”
However, adequate finance and political support are essential, he warned.
Exceeding 1.5C will cause huge destruction, but if the 2C barrier is passed, some communities will not recover, the IPCC said.
"Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future,” Mr Pörtner said.
The latest report is the second part of a global assessment of climate science by the IPCC, the sixth such assessment the UN body has conducted, with the most recent one back in 2013/14.
It was established in 1988 to provide political leaders with scientific assessments on climate change, to help them make policy.
Last August, the first part of its latest assessment revealed that human-caused climate change, which has pushed up global temperatures by 1.1C, is driving weather and climate extremes in every region across the world.
It also says global warming of 1.5C and 2C — limits countries have committed to in order to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change — will be exceeded in the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades.
