Boaters are inspecting the floodwaters flowing down the Tittabawassee River in the lower part of the city on May 20, 2020, in Midland, Michigan.
Gregory Shamus | Getty Images
Governments around the world need to significantly increase climate change adaptation measures to avoid the major economic damage caused by global warming, according to the fifth edition of the UN Environmental Adaptation Report.
Nations need to allocate half of global climate finance to adaptation next year to avoid the worst impact of climate change, according to a report released on Thursday. In 2020, the hottest year on record, tied to 2016, the world experienced record hurricanes and wildfires that continue to intensify as temperatures rise.
Such a commitment would include investing in nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change, such as practices such as replanting trees on degraded land, sequestering more carbon in the soil through agricultural practices, and protecting forests by changing logging practices.
Almost 75% of nations have adopted some form of climate adaptation. However, major gaps remain in funding for developing countries, which are most vulnerable to rising temperatures, as well as projects that have significantly reduced climate risk, the report said.
The UN has estimated that annual costs of adapting to climate change could reach $ 140 billion to $ 300 billion by the end of the decade and $ 280 billion to $ 500 billion by 2050, and concluded that global action lags far behind.
And while climate adaptation projects are on the rise, the continued rise in global carbon emissions is jeopardizing these projects.
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Under the Paris Climate Agreement, the global pact concluded five years ago between nearly 200 nations, governments are trying to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to pre-industrial levels.
The world is still on the right track for temperatures to rise above 3 degrees Celsius, or 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, in this century.
The report said reaching the 2-degree Celsius target could limit economic losses in annual growth of up to 1.6% compared to 2.2% for the 3-degree Celsius warming, and urged nations to update their targets under the Celsius agreement. in Paris to include a new net-zero carbon targets.
“The hard truth is that climate change is upon us,” Inger Andersen, UNEP’s executive director, said in a statement. “Its impacts will intensify and will most severely affect vulnerable countries and communities – even if we meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.”
The report also called on governments to prioritize climate change in their Covid-19 economic recovery plans, including a shift from fossil fuels to investment in green technologies and ecosystem restoration.
The world’s largest economies have invested more than $ 12 trillion in recovering savings, according to the International Monetary Fund.