When UN Secretary-General Guterres presented the latest special report in the IPCC’s scientific basis for world leaders, he referred to it as ‘a damning indictment of failed global leadership on climate’.

Interactions between climate, nature and society

The report, ‘Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’, contains an analysis of all significant climate risks that may affect society; who is most vulnerable and how society can protect itself against the worst consequences of these risks. Different ecosystems, man-made infrastructure and social systems are all at risk. In the eight years since the IPCC last published an equivalent report, there has been an increased focus on the interactions between climate, nature and society, including how the effects of this will impact social inequality and how different climate change adaptation strategies will impact the UN’s other sustainable development goals.

Pressure on scare water resources

As an example, studies have shown that CCS installed at power plants and increased cooling needs may increase pressure on already scarce water resources by up to 50%. The report stresses that targeted and coordinated efforts on climate change adaptation may be able to provide significant protection for society, but that the window of opportunity is closing. Guterres therefore believes that half of future climate-related funding should be dedicated to climate change adaptation. The IPCC’s third special report, which assesses measures for reducing future emissions, will be published in March.