Boat residents inspect the waters flooding the Tittabawassee River in the lower part of downtown on May 20, 2020 in Midland, Michigan.
Gregory Shamus | Getty Images
According to the fifth edition of the report on the adaptation of the United Nations Program, governments around the world must significantly increase climate adaptation measures to prevent significant economic damage from global warming. global.
According to the report released on Thursday, nations must allocate half of global climate finance to adaptation next year to avoid the worst impact of climate change. In 2020, the hottest year on record, at the same level as 2016, the world experienced hurricanes and forest fires that record continue to intensify as temperatures rise.
This commitment would include investing in nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change, such as practices such as replanting trees on degraded land, sequestering more carbon in the soil through agricultural practices, and protecting forests through changing logging practices.
Almost 75% of nations have adopted some form of climate adaptation. But significant gaps remain in funding for developing countries, which are more vulnerable to rising temperatures, as well as projects that have significantly reduced climate risk, according to the report.
The UN estimated that annual costs of climate adaptation could reach $ 140 billion and $ 300 billion by the end of the decade and between $ 280 billion and $ 500 billion by 2050 and concluded that global action remains far back.
And as climate adaptation projects increase, the continued rise in global carbon emissions jeopardizes those projects.
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Under the Paris Climate Agreement, the global pact forged five years ago between nearly 200 nations, governments are trying to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial levels .
The world is still on track for temperatures to rise more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) this century.
The report said achieving the 2-degree Celsius target could limit economic losses in annual growth of up to 1.6%, compared to 2.2% for the 3-degree warming centigrade and urged countries to update their targets under the Paris agreement to include new net zero carbon targets.
“The harsh truth is that climate change is upon us,” Inger Andersen, UNEP’s executive director, said in a statement. “Its impacts will intensify and affect vulnerable countries and communities more strongly, even if we meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
The report also called on governments to prioritize climate change in their Covid-19 economic recovery plans, including moving away from fossil fuels and toward investing in green technologies and restoring ecosystems.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the world’s largest economies have pledged more than $ 12 trillion in recovering economies.