The threat that climate change poses to human well-being and the health of the planet is "unequivocal," says the latest report [7] from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC [8]). The expansive review—which forms the second part of the IPCC's sixth assessment report (AR6 [10])—warns that any further delay in global action to slow climate change and adapt to its impacts "will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all."
The report, "Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability [11]," follows publication of the first part of AR6 [12], released [13] in August last year, which set out the physical science basis of how and why the Earth's climate is changing.
Over the two weeks before the report was released [14] on Feb. 28, government delegations had been meeting in an online approval session to agree on the high-level "summary for policymakers" section.
The final report is published against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine [15], which forced some members of the Ukrainian delegation to pull out of the approval session [16] and sequester in bomb shelters on Feb. 25. The head of the delegation, Svitlana Krakovska, pledged [17] when back online that "we will not surrender in Ukraine and we hope the world will not surrender in building a climate resilient future." The head of the Russian delegation, Oleg Anisimov, actually responded: "Let me present an apology on behalf of all Russians not able to prevent this conflict."
From Carbon Brief [18], Feb. 28
