IPCC Report; Everything, everywhere, all at once
The latest report from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is unusually direct in its message, writes Dr Simon Swaffield from the NZILA Climate Action Group.
The window of opportunity to secure a sustainable future for humankind is rapidly narrowing, and choices and actions taken this decade will shape our planetary home for millennia.
IPCC is the United Nations body that assesses science related to climate change. It publishes reports by international experts based on evidence and modelling that are extensively peer reviewed.
“Our world needs climate action on all fronts – everything, everywhere, all at once,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres Chief said in response to the IPCC's synthesis report, calling on every country and every sector to massively fast-track efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
The summary report of the Sixth Assessment (AP6 Synthesis) released this week is unequivocal: human activities are causing global warming and resulting in rapid environmental change with widespread adverse effects on nature and people. Those who have historically contributed least to warming are disproportionally at risk from its effects. Urgent actions to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and increase capacity to adapt are vital.
Despite adoption of climate change laws and policies in many countries there is still a substantial ‘emissions gap,’ as current planned GHG reduction and mitigation actions are insufficient to prevent warming reaching 1.5C (the limit specified in the UN Paris Agreement).
Climate risks will increase and become more complex and harder to manage with every increment of warming up to and beyond this level. Adverse impacts on nature, people and communities such as sea level rise will continue, and extreme heat events and storms intensify.
However, while some future climate change is now inevitable, due to historical emissions, we have not yet passed crucial tipping points. Commitment to deep, rapid and sustained reductions in GHG emissions would lead to a slow-down in warming within two decades. Every tonne counts.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found humans are responsible for virtually all global heating over the last 200 years.
AP6 Synthesis also considers climate change adaptation. It reports planning and implementation has progressed across sectors and regions. However, adaptation is not sufficient on its own. It does not prevent all losses and damage; hard and soft limits have already been reached in some systems and regions; and adaptation options become more constrained and less effective as warming continues.
Both mitigation and adaptation are therefore vital, and there are solutions and pathways for both if we choose to apply them. If planned well and together they can generate synergies and co-benefits.
AP6 Synthesis also highlights the crucial importance of equity, justice and inclusion in creating the transformative changes needed to achieve climate resilience at multiple scales.
The implications for landscape architecture are clear. We can all contribute to emissions reduction, both through professional practice and individually. Current initiatives such as carbon landscape and climate positive design are well aligned with AR6 Synthesis findings.
Examples of effective mitigation and adaptation cited in AR6 Synthesis include strategies and actions at the core of landscape practice, such as green infrastructure, urban greening, wetland and forest restoration, landscape diversification, and community-based projects building climate resilience, eg food security.
A key challenge is to identify and better understand the sweet spots where and how landscape-based mitigation and adaptation can be most effectively applied and combined.
IPCC AR6 Synthesis therefore gives momentum to Tuia Pito Ora NZILA in developing and implementing climate action objectives, tools and resources for our members. It supports and encourages partnership and collaboration with Tangata Whenua, with clients and communities, and with allied professions and organisations. Equally important perhaps, it gives hope that it is not too late to take positive action in meeting the existential challenge of our time.
You can see a plea from the United Nations Secretary-General in the video below.