9 August 2021
“The Sixth Assessment Report (Working Group I) by the International Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a harrowing testament to the unequivocal and irreversible damage that we have and continue to inflict upon our planet. Even if we do retain a maximum warming of 1.5°C, we will never return to the moderate climate state of decades past. Climate extremes will hereafter be the norm, and it is a question of mitigating any further exacerbation of these extremes before it is too late: particularly in the city environments. The report explicitly details the need for immediate action by governments and large corporations to curb the impacts of human activity on on global warming. While the insights of this report do not reveal any novel information regarding anthropogenic involvement in warming unprecedented for over two million years, it is the hope of the climate community that this warning will no longer fall on deaf ears, and that sufficient action will finally be taken by those most likely to have an impact.” Olivia O’Brien – Senior Climate Consultant at Longevity Partners
Co-Authored with Agathe Kuhn – Senior Policy Consultant
The publication of the IPCC report ‘Climate Change 2021: The Physical Basis’ is a stark reminder that we only have very little time left to take action against the devastating effects of climate change.
Act now: The report findings demonstrate that temperatures are likely to rise by more than 1.5°C in the next two decades and put the world out of reach of the Paris Agreement goals – unless we take immediate, rapid and large-scale actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Limiting CO2 emissions to at least net-zero is our only chance to prevent the climate crisis from worsening even further.
As climate scientists remind us in this report, every tonne of CO2 adds to global warming. Longevity Partners can support you in measuring and reducing emissions through the development of net-zero carbon strategies.
Irreversible effects: the report demonstrates that extreme weather events (e.g. heatwaves and flooding) have become more intense and frequent since the 1950s and are affecting more than 90% of the world. These events will continue to occur as some of the changes brought by the human-induced climate crisis are already irreparable. Cities in all regions of the world will be affected by increased heat, flooding and coastal erosion. The report contains useful information for the assessment of climate-related risks and adaptation planning that Longevity Partners will use when providing climate adaptation support to its partners.
It is vital to anticipate the adverse effects that climate change will have on the built environment. Longevity Partners can support you in the development of a climate resilience strategy to identify current and future threats and develop tailored recommendations for adaptation measures that can protect the value of your assets.
This is the first report under the IPCC 6th Assessment Report series, which will be completed next year with a report on “Impact, Adaptation and Vulnerability” (February 2022) and “Mitigation of Climate Change” (March 2022).