On Monday 28^th February 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will publish the next part of their 6th Assessment Report. The report is expected to summarise the latest scientific understanding on climate impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, outlining how dangerous climate impacts and risks are increasing with warming and setting out actions that need to be taken to build resilience in the face of increasing climate breakdown. The report is also expected to raise key questions of justice and equity - in light of the fact that rich countries are responsible for the vast majority of excess polluting emissions that are causing climate change [1],[2] while poor countries are suffering from the vast majority of climate impacts [3].

Among other things the report is expected to deal with:

Adaptation to climate impacts:  The report will highlight that adaptation measures [4] are vital to reduce the vulnerability of communities and ecosystems to the impacts of climate change. All countries will need to implement adaptation plans as the climate crisis intensifies. However, the need for adaptation is particularly pressing in the global South, where the vast majority of life changing and life threatening climate impacts are currently taking place. Rich countries, who are responsible for the vast majority of polluting emissions, have an obligation to provide finance to help poorer countries adapt to climate impacts. Repeated promises to deliver financing have been made at successive UN Climate Talks but have not been on the scale required and have not been delivered upon [5].

The limits of adaptation - loss and damage. The report is expected to examine the extent to which climate impacts and risks can be managed and reduced but will also acknowledge that there are limits to adaptation - i.e. there are climate impacts to which we can no longer adapt to, or avoid.  These impacts are referred to as “loss and damage” and include loss of lives, health, property, homes and sense of place and cultural identity when people’s homelands become uninhabitable [6]. At present, poorer countries are having to borrow money to deal with these impacts because rich countries are refusing to provide loss and damage finance [7]. 

Vulnerability - some areas such as cities and coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts:  The report will assess who is particularly vulnerable to climate impacts, looking at why they are vulnerable and what risks they face. Among other things, the report is expected to highlight the vulnerability of cities and coastal communities to climate impacts. 70% of the population will live in urban areas by 2050. Cities globally are wholly unprepared to address climate impacts, and as they grow their exposure to climate risk increases. This is especially true for cities in the global South where 90% of urban expansion is near hazard-prone areas. The 500 million urban residents that live in coastal areas face immediate short-term climate threats. 

Speaking ahead of the report’s publication, Dr Bríd Walsh, Stop Climate Chaos Policy Coordinator said:

“This report will be a yet another wake up call on the climate crisis - highlighting the urgent need to not only reduce our emissions but to also take action to adapt to climate impacts. 

Some climate impacts have become irreversible, such as loss of lives, livelihoods and homes when a region becomes uninhabitable. We call this loss and damage and it’s placing a huge strain on poorer countries, who have done little or nothing to cause these impacts in the first place.  At the latest round of UN Climate Talks rich countries, including the EU, blocked poor countries' calls for the establishment of a “Loss and Damage Finance Facility” to help deal with climate impacts like this.  I hope this latest IPCC report will push the Irish Government to actively support the development of a Loss and Damage Finance Facility at COP27 and challenge the EU on its blocking stance.

We also need to up our game on adaptation to climate impacts at home. The Irish government is due to update the National Adaptation Framework in 2022, and it is crucial that this update addresses the deficiencies identified by the Climate Change Advisory Council which warned that several sectors had made little to no progress in climate adaptation. It’s vital that Ireland gets this right to avoid exposing more people to greater risk.”

Conor O’Neill, Head of Policy with Christian Aid, a member organisation of Stop Climate Chaos added: 

“The entire continent of Africa, now home to over 1.3 billion people, is responsible for less than 4% of historic global emissions. This glaring inequality is recognised in successive climate treaties, where wealthy states responsible for the crisis pledged to provide financial support to help developing countries adapt, but targets have been badly missed.

Ireland has a good track record in funding adaptation projects, but we’re still falling well short of our fair share. We should be contributing roughly €500m per year, but the current target of €225m set for 2025 is just not enough."

Paul Healy, Somalia Country Director with Trócaire, a member organisation of Stop Climate Chaos said:

"The upcoming IPCC report will be a stark portrayal of the disproportionate impact of climate change in the countries where Trócaire works. The communities we support are in crisis, experiencing drought, floods and heatwaves with devastating consequences on people’s ability to survive. We need to act urgently to protect those who have done least to cause the climate crisis. Richer countries must pay their fair share of climate finance and respond to the loss and damages that people are enduring."

ENDS

Notes to editor:

1.The global North (i.e. United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Japan) is responsible for 92% of all excess global carbon dioxide emissions. The global South is responsible for only 8% of excess global carbon dioxide emissions. For more see here.

2.Countries in the global North used up their fair share of the global carbon budget many years ago. US citizens used up their fair share by 1936, the UK by 1945, and Germany by 1963. These debts bring responsibility to both quickly transition to zero emissions and finance mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage in the global South.

3. The global South is bearing the brunt of climate impacts - such as droughts, floods, famines, storms, sea level rise and death. The global South suffers more than 90% of the costs of climate breakdown, and 98% of the deaths associated with climate breakdown. See more here and here.

4. Adaptation measures include environmental solutions such as restoring mangroves for coastal protection and governance solutions such as changing planning regulations so that infrastructure is not built in flood or wildfire-prone areas.

5.While adaptation policies and plans are growing, there are serious lags in financing, and the costs of adaptation have been severely underestimated. Many countries have developed national adaptation plans, but most countries in the global South are unable to make the necessary changes without more funding. Repeated promises to deliver financing have been made at successive UN Climate Talks but they have not been delivered upon and the finance gap continues to widen with growing adaptation costs not being met by increasing funding flows – in fact funding is either remaining stable or decreasing. In 2019, just under $80bn was made available to poorer countries for mitigation and adaptation. To put this in context, this is 5 times less than what the world spends subsidising fossil fuels every year. By 2030, 300bn a year will be needed for climate adaptation, growing to 500bn a year by 2050. In the Irish case, analysis by Trócaire and Christian Aid has shown that climate finance needs to be increased from €225m a year by 2025 to €500m.

6.Loss and damage includes a range of climate impacts that can no longer be avoided or adapted to - such as loss of life, access to territory, harm to human health, loss of indigenous knowledge, and damage to biodiversity and habitats.

7.To give one example, Caribbean countries and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are being forced to borrow in order to recover from the effects of climate change disasters, a measure which former chief climate change negotiator for Saint Lucia, Dr James Fletcher, says is "unconscionable". 

About Stop Climate Chaos

Stop Climate Chaos (SCC) is a coalition of civil society organisations campaigning to ensure Ireland plays its part in preventing runaway climate change. It was launched in 2007 and is the largest network of organisations campaigning for action on climate change in Ireland. Its membership includes development, environmental, youth and faith-based organisations. Its members are: Afri, An Taisce, BirdWatch Ireland, Christian Aid Ireland, Comhlámh, Community Work Ireland, Clare PPN, Concern Worldwide, Cultivate, Cyclist.ie, Dublin Friends of the Earth, Eco Congregation Ireland, ECO UNESCO, Feasta, Fossil Free TCD, Friends of the Earth, Friends of the Irish Environment, Goal, Good Energies Alliance Ireland, Irish Climate and Health Alliance, Irish Heart Foundation, Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, Just Forests, Latin America Solidarity Centre (LASC), Liberia Solidarity Group, Methodist Church of Ireland – Council of Social Responsibility, Mountmellick Environmental Group, National Youth Council of Ireland, Oxfam Ireland, Peoples’ Climate Ireland, Presentation Ireland, Self Help Africa, Tearfund Ireland, Trócaire, Union of Students in Ireland, VITA, VOICE, and Young Friends of the Earth.