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 Market Mysteries of the week

  Have we run out of time to prevent a climate disaster?

Answer:

The newest report from the IPCC global experts says, well,

maybe

. But there's still hope if we make significant changes at a worldwide scale, immediately.

What is the IPCC, and what do they do?

They're

the global authority on climate change

. The IPCC is the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

, governed by organizations and governments who are members of the United Nations or the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with 195 countries in membership. The

IPCC develops comprehensive reports that assess the state of climate change, its impacts, and future risks

. These Assessment Reports are essential because they contain recommendations for policymakers to reduce the rate of climate change and put forward climate-related mitigation policies.

Who contributes to the IPCC's reporting process?

Thousands of scientists, researchers, and experts

contribute to the work of the IPCC. The IPCC is broken up into three working groups. Working Group I deals with the physical science of climate change; Working Group II deals with impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability; and Working Group III deals with mitigation.

In

the latest IPCC report

, the Panel made a conscious effort to bring in authors from different disciplines, such as philosophy, anthropology, and other social sciences, to provide more qualitative information on vulnerability and climate justice. This report was also the first attempt to involve

indigenous knowledge

and the understandings developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their surrounding natural environment. They can provide insight into areas where formal data on environmental conditions may be sparse, particularly in areas like effective land management and predictions of natural disasters.

What did we learn from the latest IPCC report?

Time is running out.

"

This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction

," said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. "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." The latest IPCC report,

released on February 28, 2022

, focused on climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability.

Big takeaways from the IPCC report

:

Heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, and other extreme events have become more frequent and intense

since the last IPCC report on impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability came out in 2014. The world has seen more ecosystem loss, species extinction, food and water insecurities, disease incidences, and worsened physical and mental health due to these hazards.

Many adaptation measures in place aren't necessarily effective

. For example, if an island's freshwater becomes contaminated with salt water due to sea-level rise, we can't simply "adapt" and bring sea level back down. Adaptation will not prevent all losses and damages from climate change, and

adaptation progress so far is uneven

. Lower-income populations have not been able to take action needed to deal with the increasing risks.

Maladaptation will make things worse.

The IPCC report found that some actions intended for adaptation can backfire and increase vulnerability, deepen current inequities, and lead to adverse outcomes. For example, a hydroelectric dam and forest protection policies designed to mitigate flooding in lowland areas in Vietnam took away access to land and forest resources to people living upstream. So the

intervention actually made groups more vulnerable

to the impacts of climate change.

Cities face significant risks but are sites of opportunity.

More than half of the world's population lives in cities. Rapid urbanization combined with climate change and poor urban planning has exacerbated poverty, unemployment, and a lack of essential services. The report found that adaptation strategies in cities that have caused unintended consequences can be avoided by more inclusive planning, attention to equity and justice, and drawing on Indigenous and local knowledge.

The world is on track to exceed 1.5°C warming in the next decade

, and the IPCC report warns that there will be irreversible outcomes. Scientists predict that

exceeding 1.5°C will put millions at risk of life-threatening heatwaves

, wipe out coral reefs that ecosystems around the world rely on, and raise sea level enough to swallow more cities. The IPCC report found that up to

14% of land animal species will be at risk of extinction

once the 1.5°C threshold is passed.

Deep emissions cuts must be combined with adaptation measures to avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity, and infrastructure.

Climate resiliency will require adequate participation from many people, financing, inclusive governance, and transparent decision-making. The IPCC report charts paths policymakers can apply to reduce climate risks and improve the lives of those most vulnerable to global warming.

What can we do?

Though these findings are troubling, they should not divert us from global climate efforts taking place. This report reiterates that

our decisions today are critical, and our nations' preparedness for climate change impacts matters

. Planning for effective adaptation measures framed for the long-term combined with emissions reductions is necessary to limit global warming the best we can. At Share Scoops, our goal is to make it easier to

understand corporations' impacts on climate change to hold them accountable for change.

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💙 The Share Scoops Team

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