Today, the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) was released which serves as a synthesis of knowledge on climate change and its impacts on people, communities, ecosystems, and biodiversity. Underscored throughout the report is the importance to recognize the interdependence of all things, and in particular the interlinkages between climate change adaptation, mitigation, health, and climate-resilient development.
While the findings of the AR6 are becoming more and more stark, unfortunately communities who have been on the frontlines of the climate crisis have been experiencing the severity of its impacts for years.
Currently, we have reached 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. Much of this global heating has been caused by our (governments, businesses, and individuals in the Global North) historical emissions stemming from unsustainable levels of consumption, energy use, land use, ways of production, and transportation. Every degree of warming matters and we must do all that we can to mitigate future emissions (especially halting all new fossil fuel projects including the Willow project, named a “carbon bomb”, which was approved by President Biden just last week).
We know that those who are disproportionately impacted by climate change are also those who have contributed the least to the problem– particularly rural communities in the Global South. For example, the African continent has emitted less than 4% of all historical carbon emissions but often faces more severe and frequent extreme weather events.
Communities across the world are already facing and will continue to face widespread losses and damages due to climate change. With the warming of our oceans, storms such as the recent month-long cyclone Freddy that hit Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar become stronger. Over 220 people have died from this extreme weather event which “may have broken the record for longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record.”
In Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, communities are facing their sixth consecutive failed rainy season. A new report released today suggests that in 2022, over 43,000 Somalis have died due to the climate-exacerbated drought, half of whom may have been children under the age of five. It is clear– the climate crisis is a health crisis, and a food crisis as well.
Even though many countries have strengthened their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for 2030, countries are not on track to meet their climate goals and limit warming to well below 2°C (preferably 1.5°C). Funding is inadequate for further action on emissions reductions but also strengthening adaptation necessary to protect communities from adverse climate impacts. We need three to six times more than the amount that is currently invested in climate.
There still is hope to mitigate the greatest impacts that climate change can have on humanity and the planet. Climate solutions that are available today can provide various co-benefits for communities, livelihoods, and health, and help to reduce loss and damage. In other words, collaborative climate action can multi-solve for various issues that communities face today. We must act now as climate change affects us all. There are already blueprints available and governments, organizations, businesses, leaders, communities, and individuals all have a role to play in tackling climate change together.
CMPM Consulting 