Photo courtesy of the US Coast Guard
On February 28, 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the report prepared by Working Group Two (WG II) for its Sixth Assessment Report, also known as AR6, that outlines what most-impacted communities on the ground and activists have known for years: Climate change isn’t a future threat, it’s here and it’s leaving devastation in its wake. Unlike the other IPCC working groups that focus on the physical science of climate change and mitigation, WG II focuses on impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation.
Countries and Communities Feel Climate Impacts Differently
Importantly, the report starkly highlights that the impacts of climate change are not being felt evenly. The countries who have contributed the least to creating the problem are the ones feeling the harshest effects of the climate crisis. According to the Summary for Policymakers, “Global hotspots of high human vulnerability are found particularly in West-, Central- and East Africa, South Asia, Central and South America, Small Island Developing States and the Arctic.” They highlight that the vulnerabilities to climate change felt within countries and even at the community level are exacerbated by existing inequalities and marginalization based on race/ethnicity, income, and gender. Indigenous peoples and those living in nations experiencing inequalities from histories of or ongoing colonialism, are especially vulnerable to the climate crisis.
Some Climate Impacts Cannot Be Undone
The report makes clear that the climate crisis is already having devastating impacts, and we must do everything within our power to keep warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Under countries’ current climate commitments, the world is projected to drastically overshoot that goal. The importance of staying below 1.5 degrees and mitigating emissions as quickly as possible has been detailed in many reports before this one. What is significant about this new report is that it outlines that if we surpass 1.5 degrees, there will be long-lasting impacts that can not be undone in future if and when we reduce global temperatures back below a 1.5 degree threshold.
Adaptation Needs to Happen Now
Adaptation to the climate crisis must be prioritized as much as mitigation. We have the tools we need to help protect communities from climate disaster, but governments of the world's richest and most polluting countries need to commit resources to support the rapid scaling of adaptation in the countries that are feeling the brunt of climate change’s effects. Adaptation is already happening at the local level, led by community leaders who fill in the gaps left by a void in policy-supported work. Finance for adaptation has continually fallen short. For instance, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is meant to support both adaptation and mitigation at a 50:50 ratio as per its mandate. But the fact of the matter is, mitigation projects are taking the lion's share of funds (66 percent) in the GCF.
What’s more, adaptation is not possible in some communities. In many places around the world people no longer have the ability to adapt to the effects of climate change: Some must make the difficult decision to leave their homes. When adaptation is no longer an option, or when climate impacts exceed adaptive capacity, this is referred to as Loss and Damage. These irreversible losses and damages include loss of culture, loss of home and place due to coastal erosion and sea-level rise, loss of habitable land due to protracted drought, and so on. Like adaptation, addressing loss and damage must be prioritized to meet the challenges outlined in the WG II report – especially for the most-impacted countries in the Global South, who have contributed the least to the climate crisis.
Taking Action On The Road to COP27
With the information of the WG II report, we have more power than ever to push our decision-makers to take action. As one of the largest emitters, the United States government must finance adaptation and loss and damage – this means they need to support the proposed loss and damage facility and do everything in their power to phase out the use of fossil fuels as quickly as possible to keep the world below 1.5 degrees.
You can help to build the movement for climate justice that will secure finance for most-impacted communities by supporting the work of our grassroots partners in our Diaspora Campaign. Sign up to keep up with the Sierra Club International Climate & Policy Campaign’s partnership with the Blairisms to talk about how to mobilize folks across the African Diaspora for climate justice in the lead-up to the next UN set of climate negotiations, COP27 in Egypt, November 2022.