Written by Katie Modic - Executive Director

The IPCC is due to release it’s working group 2 report about climate impacts on Monday 28 February. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the UN’s climate science body. They are the ultimate authority on what science tells us about climate change. The report is the second report in IPCC’s 6th assessment cycle, which consists of three reports from three different working groups, plus a synthesis report. The 6th assessment cycle of the IPCC comes approximately seven years after the 5th assessment cycle in 2014.

Timeline of the reports of the 6th assessment cycle:

Working Group 1 report - published August 2021  

The first report in the 6th assessment cycle was published on August 9th, 2021 and was described by the UN Secretary General as “code red for humanity”.  It provided the “most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change.”

Working Group 2 report - this Monday, February 28th 2022

The report coming out on Monday will look at climate impacts. It is the most comprehensive assessment of climate impacts to date, laying out in detail the extent to which climate change is destroying people’s lives, livelihoods and well-being and damaging ecosystems and biodiversity. Background on the report/working group can be found here: AR6 Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability — IPCC  The report is expected to integrate more from economics and the social sciences, and highlight more clearly the important role of social justice in adapting to climate change. The BBC and other media outlets have started previewing this story this week: IPCC: Climate change report to sound warning on impacts - BBC News 

Working Group 3 report - expected in April 2022

This report will look at climate mitigation. This is expected in April (TBC).  See more background: AR6 Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change — IPCC

Synthesis report - expected September 2022 

There will also be a synthesis report that will bring together the findings of all three of these working groups/reports, plus the special reports on 1.5C, climate and land, and the ocean and cryosphere. This is expected in September 2022 (TBC). Background here:   AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2022 — IPCC

We will likely not have another IPCC assessment cycle until the end of this decade. So the reports of the 6th assessment cycle will be the last big scientific assessment of the state of climate change in the decade that we need climate action. These reports will be the evidence base for this decisive decade in our history.

Implications of the report on Monday  

 The report will show the costs of climate change are already enormous and will accelerate if warming continues.  Unless emissions are cut faster than governments plan to, damages will worsen rapidly - so we will likely want to use it as a clarion call for decisive climate action. Given its focus on impacts, the report will also likely focus on adaptation and loss and damage. Loss and damage is the phrase for the destruction already being wreaked by the climate crisis on lives, livelihoods and infrastructure. This was an issue raised at COP26 in Glasgow. Vulnerable and developing countries, which did little to cause the climate crisis, wanted to win a commitment from rich nations to compensate them for this damage. This did not happen at COP26. But is likely to be an issue raised again in COP27. See more on loss and damage at COP 26 here. 

Call to Action

One important statement that came from the August report is that “all hope is not lost”. If we commit to taking immediate and drastic action, we can still avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. We need all sectors planning for and implementing emission reduction strategies immediately. Communitopia and our stakeholders are hard at work advocating for education sector leaders to step up and play their part. Our Pittsburgh Youth for Climate Action group is petitioning their school boards to pass climate action resolutions this month and we encourage you to do the same. You can find local resources on our website and join the national movement by connecting with Schools for Climate Action! There is no time to waste!