A report published today (28) by the United Nations warns that the impacts of climate change are being “much faster” than predicted by scientists, causing “dangerous and widespread disturbances in nature”. According to the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Experts on Climate Change (IPCC), the efforts being made to mitigate these effects are not enough. And, as a consequence, there are harmful effects on the lives of billions of people, especially indigenous peoples and local communities.
“I have seen a lot of scientific reports in my life, but nothing like this,” said UN Secretary General António Guterres, as he opened his speech, during a press conference to release the document. “The IPCC report presented today is an atlas of human suffering and an inquiry into the damage and fate of our climate leaders. Fact by fact, this report shows that people and planet are affected by climate change,” he said.
“Right now, practically half of humanity lives in a dangerous zone. At this time, many ecosystems have reached a point of no return. And right now, the uncontrolled reach of current pollution forces a global vulnerability that is on the march towards destruction. The facts are undeniable. This abdication of our leadership is criminal. Big polluters remain to blame for harming our only home,” she added.
According to IPCC President Hoesung Lee, “this report brings a serious warning about the consequences of inaction”, as it shows that climate change is an “increasingly serious threat to our well-being and the health of the planet”. .
climate injustice
According to the director of the United Nations Environment Program, Inger Andersen, the message that the report sends is clear: “climate change is already our opponent”. “The rains are there, harming billions of people,” she said.
“We have seen dangerous destruction throughout the natural world. Migrating species live in more vulnerable conditions, and there are deaths occurring from flooding caused by storms,” she said, noting that, in the last decade, vulnerable people living in least developed countries are 15 times more likely to die as a result of floods, droughts or storms.
The risk, according to the UN director, particularly affects indigenous peoples and local communities. “The name of this is climate injustice”, she sentenced, defending that the return to nature is the best way for humanity to adapt and reduce climate change and, at the same time, promote jobs that boost economies.
“We have an obligation to dedicate thought and funds to transform and adapt programs with nature at their center. Humanity has spent centuries treating nature as its worst enemy. The truth is that nature can be our salvation, but only if we save it first.”
The report highlights that, in the next two decades, the planet will face several unavoidable climate hazards, should global warming reach 1.5°C. Some of them will have an irreversible effect. The risks are increasing and will have consequences for infrastructure and low-lying coastal settlements.
Financing, technology and commitment
The study warns that in some regions, “climate resilient development will be impossible” if global warming increases by more than 2°C. In this sense, the survey highlights “the urgency of implementing climate action, with a particular focus on equality and justice”, which implies “adequate funding, technology transfer, political commitment and partnerships that increase the effectiveness of adaptation to climate change and to reducing emissions”.
António Guterres recalled that science has reiterated that the world needs to cut 45% of its emissions by 2030, to achieve zero emissions by 2050. “However, current agreements indicate that emissions will increase by almost 14% during this decade . This represents catastrophe, and it will destroy any chance of keeping the commitments alive.”
He added that fossil fuels have great responsibility in this scenario, and criticized the countries that have failed to comply with multilateral agreements on the subject. “The present global combination on [emissões de] energy is broken, and fossil fuels continue to cause damage, shocks and economic, security and geopolitical crises”, he said.
“Now is the time to accelerate the energy transition to a renewable energy future, because fossil fuel represents an impasse for our planet, for humanity and, yes, for economies. The immediate transition to a renewable source of energy is the only way to ensure energy security, universal access and the green jobs our world needs,” he added.
Adaptation, aiming at the wide use of clean energy, is not something cheap, even more so in the case of less developed countries. In view of these difficulties, Guterres called on developed countries, multilateral development banks, private finance companies and other corporations to form coalitions in order to encourage, develop and provide access to the use of clean energy.
The UN survey cites direct links between climate change and people’s exposure to acute food and water insecurity, especially in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, as well as on small islands and the Arctic.
delay is death
“We need to help countries adapt to new needs. We need money to save lives, because delay is death. All multilateral banks know what needs to be done: work with governments to develop pathways for projects to obtain the necessary public and private resources. Every planet needs to comply with the agreement so that we can, in fact, reduce emissions,” he argued.
Guterres added that the G20, the group formed by the 20 largest economies on the planet, needs to lead this way. “Otherwise, humanity will pay a heavy price, with an even greater number of tragedies. People everywhere are anxious and furious. Me too. Now we need to turn that fury into action. Every voice can make a difference. And every second counts,” he concluded.
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