Urgent climate action can secure a livable future for all: Scientist

There are multiple, feasible and effective options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change, and they are available now, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Monday.

"Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits," said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee. "This Synthesis Report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that, if we act now, we can still secure a livable sustainable future for all."

Dr Saleemul Huq, director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), stated "The IPCC synthesis report is the final report of the sixth assessment cycle of the IPCC. While it does not present new information but synthesizes main results from the reports of WG1, WG2 and WG3, this synthesis is extremely important as it is the first IPCC report in the new era of Loss and Damage from impacts of human-induced climate change."

In 2018, IPCC highlighted the unprecedented scale of the challenge required to keep warming to 1.5°C. Five years later, that challenge has become even greater due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The pace and scale of what has been done so far, and current plans, 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 above pre-industrial levels. This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impact on nature and people in every region of the world.

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. In every region, people are dying from extreme heat. Climate-driven food and water insecurity is expected to increase with increased warming. When the risks combine with other adverse events, such as pandemics or conflicts, they become even more difficult to manage.

Dr Anjal Prakash, coordinating lead author and lead author of IPCC AR6 report and research director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business mentioned, "The IPCC Synthesis report has highlighted the severity of the climate crisis and its impact on the global population. Particularly Bangladesh, as a country highly vulnerable to climate change, the report has provided further evidence of the imminent risks. Each of these events could have severe implications on Bangladesh's agricultural, social, and economic systems. Hence, there is urgent need for effective adaptation and mitigation measures and if done successfully Bangladesh will be benefitted greatly."

Losses and damages in sharp focus

The report, approved during a week-long session in Interlaken, brings into sharp focus the losses and damages we are already experiencing and will continue into the future, hitting the most vulnerable people and ecosystems especially hard. Taking the right action now could result in the transformational change essential for a sustainable, equitable world.

"Climate justice is crucial because those who have contributed least to climate change are being disproportionately affected," said Aditi Mukherji, one of the 93 authors of this Synthesis Report, the closing chapter of the Panel's sixth assessment.

"Almost half of the world's population lives in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change. In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions, "she added.

In this decade, accelerated action to adapt to climate change is essential to close the gap between existing adaptation and what is needed. Meanwhile, keeping warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels requires deep, rapid and sustained greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors. Emissions should be decreasing by now and will need to be cut by almost half by 2030, if warming is to be limited to 1.5°C.

Clear way ahead

The solution lies in climate resilient development. This involves integrating measures to adapt to climate change with actions to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in ways that provide wider benefits. For example - access to clean energy and technologies improves health, especially for women and children; low-carbon electrification, walking, cycling and public transport enhance air quality, improve health, employment opportunities and deliver equity. The economic benefits for people's health from air quality improvements alone would be roughly the same, or possibly even larger than the costs of reducing or avoiding emissions.

Dr Anjal Prakash, coordinating lead author and lead author of IPCC AR6 report and research director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business mentioned "Bangladesh needs to develop a set of strategies to address the climate risks. Including Bangladesh could prioritize reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the use of renewable energy, promoting energy efficiency, and improving public transportation systems. The government could also incentivize the adoption of sustainable practices in agriculture, waste management, and forestry."

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. To be effective, these choices need to be rooted in our diverse values, worldviews and knowledge, including scientific knowledge, Indigenous Knowledge and local knowledge. This approach will facilitate climate resilient development and allow locally appropriate, socially acceptable solutions.

Enabling sustainable development

There is sufficient global capital to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions if existing barriers are reduced. Increasing finance to climate investments is important to achieve global climate goals. Governments, through public funding and clear signals to investors, are key in reducing these barriers. Investors, central banks and financial regulators can also play their part.

Madeleine Diouf Sarr, chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group mentioned "It is disappointing that climate finance growth has slowed since 2018, when it should have accelerated. The largest gaps are in the developing world. But so too are the largest opportunities. We must shift these flows and increase access to finance to advance our collective prosperity and reach net zero. We must halve our emissions in this decade and limit warming to 1.5°C. We must bend the emissions curve down; global emissions need to peak before 2025."

Climate, ecosystems and society are interconnected. Effective and equitable conservation of approximately 30-50% of the Earth's land, freshwater and ocean will help ensure a healthy planet. Urban areas offer a global scale opportunity for ambitious climate action that contributes to sustainable development.

There are tried and tested policy measures that can work to achieve deep emissions reductions and climate resilience if they are scaled up and applied more widely. Political commitment, coordinated policies, international cooperation, ecosystem stewardship and inclusive governance are all important for effective and equitable climate action.

Dr AKM  Saiful Islam, lead author of IPCC Sixth Assessment Report and professor and director, Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) mentioned "According to this report, overall global adaptation has not kept up with the pace and degree of increasing impacts from climate change. Bangladesh has recently prepared its National Adaptation Plan (NAP 2022), Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP 2100) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 2021). Urgent and rapid actions are needed to implement these plans and strategies. We need global support for implementation of our adaptation and mitigation plans from Green Climate Funds and Loss and Damage Funds and other financial sources."