Latest international climate report calls for adaptation, rapid action | CU Boulder Today

Policies should accelerate and prioritize climate change adaptation over this decade to avert rising risks to people and nature – and there are already many viable and effective strategies in place.

This is just one of many conclusions outlined in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Monday. The report is the final part of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, which provides a summary of the science on climate change over the past eight years, along with economic and social analysis.

While it’s still possible, the report notes that the world is unlikely to keep global temperatures below 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels (a target enshrined in the 2016 Paris Agreement). fixed), although every tenth of a degree is still important. The report comes as the planet has already warmed by 2F (1.1C) and is experiencing more extreme weather events, natural disasters and increasingly dangerous impacts on life in all parts of the world. All of this will only continue unless swift action is taken to reduce and eliminate all emissions from fossil fuels before 2050, the authors point out.

“This report pulls it all together to frame the big issues and developments in our understanding of climate change, its impacts, our direction and what needs to be done,” said Matthew Burgess, assistant professor of environmental studies, a fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research and Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and Director of the Center for Social and Environmental Futures.

Burgess, also an affiliated economics department, studies long-term economic growth and its impact on climate change and society. He also examines the political polarization of climate change and how we can reduce it.

CU Boulder Today spoke to Burgess about what the latest report means in the context of business and politics in 2023 and beyond.

What is the main takeaway from this synthesis report?

The authors say we’re very likely to miss 1.5 degrees [Celsius] goal on the path we are heading towards and we have deviated from the 2nd degree [Celsius] Goal. But on the bright side, the report also reflects a new consensus that worst-case scenarios are 3 to 3.5 degrees [Celsius] range, rather than the 4 or 5 degrees [Celsius] range, and the most plausible scenarios are generally somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd degrees [Celsius] Area. To indicate that the worst-case scenarios seem less likely, the working group chapters summarizing the synthesis report explicitly cited our research.

What are adaptation and mitigation?

Adaptation is, by and large, anything that helps us cope with climate change. And mitigation are things that help us reduce our emissions or remove carbon from the atmosphere. Unsurprisingly, financing gaps for adaptation are greatest in low-income countries.

Why is it beneficial to finance and act on adaptation?

The report emphasizes that adaptation is severely underfunded, even compared to mitigation, which is also underfunded. This is surprising from an economic point of view, because adaptation immediately pays off locally. If I build a dam to protect a coastal city, it benefits that city immediately and only benefits that city. In contrast, mitigation has diffuse and long-term benefits. If I reduce my emissions by a certain amount, it will reduce climate damage around the world for decades. So, from an economist’s perspective, one would think that it would be easier to spend money on adaptation than on mitigation.

Why has adaptation been underfunded?

Until recently, discussing adaptation was taboo in climate defense because it was viewed as giving up. When we conform, we acknowledge that we will not mitigate. Luckily, we’ve recently started to move away from this false dichotomy and think we can and must do both. We can and must reduce our emissions, and we must also adapt.

What are the challenges of adaptation?

That’s one of the reasons some of these worst-case scenarios seem less likely [global] Economic growth has not been what we imagined, and as it grows, it gets bigger [fossil fuel] -Emissions – so less growth has resulted in less realized and projected warming. But this also has some negative implications for adaptation. There’s a lot of evidence that it’s easier to adapt when you’re a richer country. So while our work suggests that some of these worst-case scenarios are less likely, it also suggests that our work is much more difficult in ensuring that developing countries have development opportunities and the resources they need to adapt and adapt Adjustment need temper.

How could this report affect politics?

In the IPCC press release and summary for policymakers, the frameworks used in the proposed solutions tend to be those favored by the political left in the United States: things like justice, gender, and indigenous knowledge. I haven’t seen much mention of things like reduced regulations to speed up approval to build more power lines and renewable capacity to decarbonize the grid faster, more economic growth as an adaptation strategy, or more nuclear power. All of these would be things more likely to be put forward by moderates like Joe Manchin or people who are part of what bills itself as the eco-right.

I would suspect that this will likely increase political polarization around climate change, or at least add to how climate change is already polarized in this country.

How polarized is it?

In some ways, the issue of climate change remains polarized. But I also see the debates that have consistently moved away from “Is that real?” in recent years. And toward “What should we do about it?” I think it’s a good thing. But I suspect this will be a key campaign issue in 2024.

What makes you optimistic about the challenge that lies ahead?

Many of the things we can do as a society to mitigate climate change and reduce our emissions are already cost-competitive. It’s a win-win, and there are many win-wins out there. I think there is a broad coalition that can be built around these kinds of victories. When we face what is probably the most complex challenge mankind has ever faced in a democracy for decades, we will do it together or we will not do it. So I hope we can do this together.