Latest climate report highlights wider benefits of taking action

The latest IPCC report estimates that the economic benefits for people’s health from air quality improvements alone would be roughly the same, or possibly even larger than the costs of reducing or avoiding GHG emissions.

Accelerated climate action, the report states, provides co-benefits of lower air pollution, active mobility, such as walking and cycling, and shifts to sustainable healthy diets. In addition, it says that adaptation to reduce GHG emissions can improve agricultural productivity, health and wellbeing, food security, and biodiversity conservation, among other positives. 

Improved access to clean energy in the home, especially benefits women and children (the WHO estimates that 3.8 million people die every year as a result of exposure to indoor smoke from cooking fuels); while electrification combined with low-GHG energy, and shifts to active mobility and public transport, benefits air quality, health, employment, and could improve energy security and equity. 

As well as highlighting the wider benefits of climate action, IPCC chair Hoesung Lee stresses the urgency of taking more ambitious action to secure a liveable sustainable future for all. 

The report states that every increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards, including more intense heat waves, heavier rainfall and other weather extremes that increase risks for human health and ecosystems. Further, climate change has reduced food security and affected water security, hindering efforts to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. At present between just under half the world’s population, or 3.3-3.6 billion people, live in areas that are highly vulnerable to climate change.

On a positive note, progress in adaptation planning and implementation has been observed across all sectors and regions. Growing public and political awareness of climate impacts and risks has resulted in at least 170 countries and many cities including adaptation in their climate policies and planning processes.

However, the report also notes key barriers to adaptation, including limited resources and finance, poor private sector and citizen engagement, low climate literacy, lack of political commitment, limited research, slow uptake of adaptation science, and a lack of urgency.

In 2019, the report says, nearly 80% GHG emissions came from the energy, industry, transport and buildings sectors and just over 20% from agriculture, forestry and other land use. At present emissions reductions from more efficient use of fossil fuels have been less than emissions increases from rising global activity. 

The report says that global warming will continue to increase in the near term (2021-2040) because cumulative CO2 emissions are increasing in nearly all considered scenarios and modelled pathways. 

IPCC Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report

IPCC Press release

UN Secretary-General António Guterres