Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-1 (section)

=== 1.1.1 A Changing Climate in a Changing World ===

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Numerous additional significant climate-related changes have unfolded worldwide since the publication of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) in 2014 ( [[#IPCC--2014a|IPCC, 2014a]] ). Consistent with projections, multiple concurrent changes in the physical climate system have grown more salient, including increasing global temperatures, loss of ice volume, rising sea levels and changes in global precipitation patterns (AR6 WGI Chapter 1, [[#Chen--2021|Chen et al., 2021]] ). The changes in the physical climate system, most notably more intensive extreme events, have adversely affected natural and human systems around the world. This has contributed to a loss and degradation of ecosystems, including tropical coral reefs; reduced water and food security; increased damage to infrastructure; additional mortality and morbidity; human migration and displacement; damaged livelihoods; increased mental health issues; and increased inequality. Since AR5, a growing literature attributes change in specific climate variables to observed damages to specific localised human and natural systems in many regions of the world (Figure 1.1, also see Cross-Working Group BOX ATTRIBUTION in Chapter 1).

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[[File:1a6b0a7a28d1a7955f1f9ec69af78dda IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_1_001.png]]

'''Figure 1.1 |''' '''Evidence of climate change impacts in many regions of the world.''' Global density map shows climate impact evidence, derived by machine-learning from 77,785 studies. Map colouring denotes the number of weighted studies per grid cell for all evidence on climate impacts (N= 77,785). Figure adopted from [[#Callaghan--2021|Callaghan et al. (2021)]] .

Concurrently, since AR5, a growing share of people around the world perceive a changing climate, regard these changes as significant and consider climate action to be a matter of high urgency ( [[#Wilson--2019|Wilson and Orlove, 2019]] ; Section 17.4.5). A survey, representing over half the world’s population, found that almost two-thirds of people across 50 countries view climate change as an emergency ( [[#Flynn--2021|Flynn et al., 2021]] ), compared to just over half across 23 countries in 2013 ( [[#Fagan--2019|Fagan, 2019]] ). The highest level of support for climate action is among small island developing states (SIDS) (74%), followed by high-income countries (72%), middle-income countries (62%) and, then, least developed countries (58%) ( [[#Flynn--2021|Flynn et al., 2021]] ). Notably, after mid-2018, global media showed a large increase number of mentions of ‘global warming’, ‘climate change’ and similar terms ( [[#Thackeray--2020|Thackeray et al., 2020]] ). The business community now consistently includes climate change, including ‘climate action failure’ as a major risk ( [[#World%20Economic%20Forum--2021|World Economic Forum, 2021]] ). In late 2019, protests calling for strengthened climate action reached an unprecedented level of over 6000 events in 185 countries, with a reported estimate of 7.6 million participants, largely led by the ‘Fridays for Future’ youth movement ( [[#Chase-Dunn--2020|Chase-Dunn and Almeida, 2020]] ).

Since AR5, governments, businesses and civil society have increasingly responded with planning and actions aimed at reducing current and future risks from climate change (Section 1.1.2, Chapters 16 and 17). Concern with climate change has increasingly motivated actions by governments, the private sector and civil society ( [[#Hale--2021|Hale et al., 2021]] ; Section 18.4.3). As described in this report, however, current climate policies and actions alone are not sufficient to meet stated policy goals (Section 1.1.3) ''(high confidence'' ).

This report addresses the challenges of climate action in the context of sustainable development. Climate action takes place in a world already undergoing some of the most rapid and significant societal and environmental change in decades ( [[#IPCC--2018b|IPCC, 2018b]] ; Box 1.1). These include species and ecosystems loss due to land and sea use change and pollution ( [[#IPBES--2019a|IPBES, 2019a]] ); a growing and urbanising world population ( [[#Gerten--2019|Gerten et al., 2019]] ; [[#van-Vliet--2017|van Vliet et al., 2017]] ); technology reshaping the workplace through automation ( [[#Schwab--2017|Schwab, 2017]] ) and information dissemination through social media ( [[#Mavrodieva--2019|Mavrodieva et al., 2019]] ; [[#Pearce--2019|Pearce et al., 2019]] ); and increasing inequalities due to gender, poverty, age, race and ethnicity (Cross-Chapter Box GENDER in Chapter 18). Economic inequality grows within nations even as it has narrowed among them ( [[#UN%20Department%20of%20Economic%20and%20Social%20Affairs--2020|UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2020]] ). International polycentric governance and non-state actors play an important role ( [[#Beck--2018|Beck and Mahony, 2018]] ; Sections 1.4.2 and 17.1.2.1). In 2020 and 2021, a global pandemic dramatically affected the lives of most of the world’s population, likely accelerating many of the changes already underway (Cross-Chapter Box COVID in Chapter 7).

The point of departure for this AR6 Working Group II report thus lies in rapid and significant changes in our climate and our world, growing attentiveness to those changes, a gap between current climate action and that needed to address policy goals, and a growing literature that improves understanding and informs potential responses. This chapter defines key concepts and the connections among them useful for comprehending and evaluating these changes, the risks they generate, and options for incremental and transformative solutions that could reduce climate-related risks, impacts and vulnerability.

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