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 the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
The ‘Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’ report said people and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit.
It said the world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5°Celsius.
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 report said.
To avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity and infrastructure, ambitious, accelerated action is required to adapt to climate change, at the same time as making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, it added.
The report said progress on adaptation is uneven and there are increasing gaps between action taken and what is needed to deal with the increasing risks.
These gaps are largest among lower-income populations.
IPCC chair Hoesung Lee said: “This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction.
“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.
“This report recognizes the interdependence of climate, biodiversity and people and integrates natural, social and economic sciences more strongly than earlier IPCC assessments.
“It emphasises the urgency of immediate and more ambitious action to address climate risks. Half measures are no longer an option.”