Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-16 (section)

=== 16.1.1 Objective of the Chapter ===

<div id="h2-1-siblings" class="h2-siblings"></div>

Anthropogenic climate change poses risks to many human and ecological systems. These risks are increasingly visible in our day-to-day lives, including a growing number of disasters that already bear a fingerprint of climate change. There is increasing concern about how these risks will shape the future of our planet—our ecosystems, our well-being and development opportunities. Policymakers are asking what is known about the risks, and what can be done about them. Many people, especially youth, around the world are calling for urgency, ambition and action. Companies are wondering how to manage new threats to their bottom line, or how to grasp new opportunities. On top of this growing concern about climate change, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities to shocks, significantly aggravated climate-related risks, and posed new questions about how to achieve a green, resilient and inclusive recovery (see Cross-Chapter Box COVID in Chapter 7).

The three synthesis chapters of this report (Chapters 16, 17 and 18) aim to address these concerns. They synthesise information from across all thematic and regional chapters of the Working Group II (WGII) IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) and the recent IPCC Special Reports on Global Warming of 1.5°C, on Climate Change and Land, and on Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SR15 ( [[#IPCC--2018a|IPCC, 2018a]] ), SRCCL ( [[#IPCC--2019a|IPCC, 2019a]] ) and SROCC ( [[#IPCC--2019b|IPCC, 2019b]] )), but also include an independent assessment of the literature, especially literature that cuts across sectors and regions.

[https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/chapter/chapter-16 Chapter 16] lays the groundwork by synthesising the state of knowledge on the observed impacts of climate change ( [[#16.2|Section 16.2]] ) and ongoing adaptation responses ( [[#16.3|Section 16.3]] ), the limits to adaptation ( [[#16.4|Section 16.4]] ), and the key risks we should be concerned about, how these risks evolve with global temperature change, and also how they depend on future development and adaptation efforts (Sections 16.5, 16.6). It thus brings together elements that were assessed in different chapters in previous assessments, especially the Third, Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports (TAR, AR4 and AR5, respectively). Background on specific methodological aspects of this chapter is provided in Supplementary Material (SM).

The strong link between risks, adaptation and development connects this chapter closely to Chapters 17 and 18. [[IPCC:Wg2:Chapter:Chapter-17|Chapter 17]] assesses decision -making: what do we know about the ways to manage risks in a warming climate (including in the context of the key risks and limits to adaptation identified in this chapter)? [[IPCC:Wg2:Chapter:Chapter-18|Chapter 18]] puts all of this information into the perspective of climate resilient development pathways: how can we achieve sustainable development given the additional challenges posed by climate change?

<div id="16.1.2" class="h2-container"></div>

<span id="risk-framing"></span>