Front cover of the report

IPCC's Working Group II Climate Report Published

AR6 - Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

28 February 2022

Climate change: a threat to human wellbeing and health of the planet. Taking action now can secure our future.

Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. According to scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released today (28 February 2022), people and ecosystems least able to cope are hardest hit.

"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 world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5°C. Even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible. Risks for society will increase, including to infrastructure and low-lying coastal settlements.

The IPCC is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change. IPCC assessments provide governments, at all levels, with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies and carry out international negotiations to tackle climate change.

The IPCC assesses the thousands of scientific papers published each year to tell policymakers what we know and don't know about the risks related to climate change. The panel identifies where there is agreement in the scientific community, where there are differences of opinion, and where further research is needed.

The Summary for Policymakers of the IPCC Working Group II report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, was approved on Sunday, 27 February 2022, by 195 member governments of the IPCC, through a virtual approval session that was held over two weeks starting on 14 February.

The Working Group II report examines the impacts of climate change on nature and people around the globe. It explores future implications at different levels of warming and the resulting risks. It offers options to strengthen nature's and society's resilience to ongoing climate change, fight hunger, poverty, and inequality, and keep Earth a place worth living on – for current and future generations.

Working Group II introduces several new components in its latest report: One is a special section on climate change impacts, risks and options to act for cities and settlements by the sea, tropical forests, mountains, biodiversity hotspots, dryland and deserts, the Mediterranean as well as the polar regions. Another is an atlas that will present data and findings on observed and projected climate change impacts and risks from global to regional scales, thus offering even more insights for decision-makers.

Urgent action is required to deal with increasing risks

Increased heatwaves, droughts and floods are already exceeding plants' and animals' tolerance thresholds, driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals. These weather extremes are occurring simultaneously, causing cascading impacts that are increasingly difficult to manage. They have exposed millions of people to acute food and water insecurity, especially in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, on Small Islands and in the Arctic.

To avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity and infrastructure, ambitious, accelerated action is required to adapt to climate change while making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. So far, progress on adaptation is uneven, and there are increasing gaps between action taken and what is needed to deal with the rising risks, the new report finds. These gaps are most significant among lower-income populations.

"This report recognizes the interdependence of climate, biodiversity and people and integrates natural, social and economic sciences more strongly than earlier IPCC assessments," said Hoesung Lee. "It emphasises the urgency of immediate and more ambitious action to address climate risks. Half measures are no longer an option."

Safeguarding and strengthening nature is key to securing a liveable future

There are options to adapt to a changing climate. This report provides new insights into nature's potential to reduce climate risks and improve people's lives.

"Healthy ecosystems are more resilient to climate change and provide life-critical services such as food and clean water", said IPCC Working Group II Co-Chair Hans-Otto Pörtner. "By restoring degraded ecosystems and effectively and equitably conserving 30 to 50 per cent of Earth's land, freshwater and ocean habitats, society can benefit from nature's capacity to absorb and store carbon, and we can accelerate progress towards sustainable development, but adequate finance and political support are essential."

Scientists point out that climate change interacts with global trends such as unsustainable use of natural resources, growing urbanization, social inequalities, losses and damages from extreme events and a pandemic, jeopardizing future development.

"Our assessment clearly shows that tackling all these different challenges involves everyone – governments, the private sector, civil society – working together to prioritise risk reduction, as well as equity and justice, in decision-making and investment," said IPCC Working Group II Co-Chair Debra Roberts.

"In this way, different interests, values and world views can be reconciled. By bringing together scientific and technological know-how as well as Indigenous and local knowledge, solutions will be more effective. Failure to achieve climate-resilient and sustainable development will result in a sub-optimal future for people and nature."

The report goes on to provide a detailed assessment of climate change impacts, risks and adaptation in cities as a global challenge that requires local solutions.

"The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future," said Hans-Otto Pörtner.

The Summary for Policymakers of the Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) as well as additional materials and information are available here.


AR6 Working Group II in numbers

  • 270 authors from 67 countries
  • 47 – coordinating authors
  • 184 – lead authors
  • 39 – review editors 
  • 675 – contributing authors
  • Over 34,000 cited references
  • A total of 62,418 expert and government review comments

 

The Working Group III contribution to the AR6 is scheduled for early April 2022.

The Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report will be completed in the second half of 2022. For more information, go to www.ipcc.ch