Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/TS (section)

=== TS.A.1 Background ===

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This technical summary complements and expands the key findings of the Working Group (WG) II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) presented in the Summary for Policymakers and covers literature accepted for publication by 1 September 2021. It provides technical understanding and is developed from the key findings of chapters and cross-chapter papers (CCPs) as presented in their executive summaries and integrates across them. The report builds on the WGII contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the IPCC and three special reports of the AR6 cycle providing new knowledge and updates. The three special reports are the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (2018), an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty; the Special Report on Climate Change and Land, which is concerned with climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems (2019); and the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (2019). The WGII assessment integrates with the WGI (the physical science basis) and WGIII (mitigation of climate change) contributions and contributes to the Synthesis Report.

The contribution of Working Group II (WGII) to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the IPCC summarizes the current understanding of observed climate change impacts on ecosystems, human societies and their cities, settlements, infrastructures and industrial systems, as well as vulnerabilities and future risks tied to different socioeconomic development pathways. The report is set against a current backdrop of rapid urbanisation, biodiversity loss, a growing and dynamic global human population, significant inequality and demands for social justice, rapid technological change, continuing poverty, land degradation and food insecurity, and risks from shocks such as pandemics and increasingly intense extreme events from ongoing climate change. The report also assesses existing adaptations and their feasibility and limits. Any success of adaptation is dependent on the achieved level of mitigation and the transformation of global and regional sustainability outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Accordingly, adaptation is essential for climate resilient development. Compared to earlier IPCC assessments, this report integrates more strongly across the natural, social and economic sciences, highlighting the role of social justice and diverse forms of knowledge, such as Indigenous knowledge and local knowledge, and reflects the increasing importance of urgent and immediate action to address climate risk. { 1.1.1 }

Since AR5, climate action has increased at all levels of governance, including among non-governmental organisations, small and large enterprises, and citizens. Two international agreements—the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—jointly provide overarching goals for climate action. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015 by UN member states, sets out 17 SDGs, frames policies for achieving a more sustainable future and aligns efforts globally to prioritise ending extreme poverty, protect the planet and promote more peaceful, prosperous and inclusive societies. Since AR5, several new international conventions have identified climate change adaptation and risk reduction as important global priorities for sustainable development, including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), the finance-oriented Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the New Urban Agenda. The Convention on Biological Diversity and its Aichi targets recognise that biodiversity is affected by climate change, with negative consequences for human well-being, but biodiversity, through ecosystem services, contributes to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. { 1.1.2 }

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