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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a new report detailing the impacts of climate change on humanity and the environment. The IPCC’s Working Group II (WGII) report, which provides a comprehensive scientific assessment of the impacts and adaptation strategies of a warming planet, is a key input for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and informs international negotiations to address climate change.
Three Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3) members, Luna Khirfan, Robert McLeman, and Linda Mortsch, are lead authors in the recently published Working Group II report. They have worked with top scientists from around the world for the past several years to identify options for creating a sustainable future for all through an equitable and integrated approach to mitigation and adaptation efforts at all scales. This includes IC3 members Hannah Tait Neufeld, Susan Elliott and Michelle Rutty. Tait Neufeld and Elliott were contributing authors for sections on Indigenous Health and evaluating health adaptation, which both appear in chapter 7 on health, wellbeing and the changing structure of communities. Rutty was a contributing author for chapter 14 on North America.
“It’s an honour to be recognized for your expertise and nominated by your country to participate in the IPCC,” said Coordinating Lead Author Linda Mortsch. “I always appreciate the opportunity to collaborate because you’re exposed to leading researchers from around the world and new knowledge, which ultimately informs Canadians to make advances in adapting to climate change.”
The report’s key findings show that urgent action is required to deal with the increasing risks of a warming planet. These include:
- Safeguarding and strengthening nature is key to securing a livable future. The report shows that there are options to adapt to a changing climate and shares new insights into nature’s potential to reduce climate risks and improve people’s lives.
- Cities are hotspots of impacts and risks, but also a crucial part of the solution. By involving everyone in planning, attention to equity and justice, and drawing on Indigenous and local knowledge, opportunities for climate action can be realized.
- Local solutions are needed to address the global challenge. The report provides extensive regional information to enable climate resilient development, which is already challenging at current warming levels, and will be more limited if global warming exceeds 1.5°C (2.7°F). In some regions it will be impossible if global warming exceeds 2°C (3.6°F). This key finding underlines the urgency for climate action, focusing on equity and justice.
To help us further understand the report, Khirfan, McLeman, and Mortsch, discussed the report’s findings and their impacts on Canada in a series of Q&As.
The Working Group II report, along with an earlier report on the physical science of climate change released in the fall of 2021, are part of the IPCC’s sixth assessment of the state of the knowledge of the climate crisis. The third report is scheduled to be released on Monday, April 4, 2022 followed by a synthesis report in fall 2022. University of Waterloo researchers have contributed to each of the IPCC assessments since it was initially formed in 1988.
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