Page 26 - Frontier Technologies to Protect the Environment and Tackle Climate Change

Frontier Technologies to Protect the Environment and Tackle Climate Change

3. Climate change and SDG 13

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change refers to ‘change
in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean
and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or
longer. It refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result

of human activity.’ 45, 46, 47, 48
Several causes of climate change exist and are leading to a warming of the planet as a result of the
release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) – primarily in the form of carbon-based emissions that contribute
to the greenhouse effect by retaining more heat from the sun. The average global temperatures
increased by 0.85°C between 1880 and 2012. 49

In light of this, the IPCC has issued its starkest warning yet on the consequences of climate inaction
and the importance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. It has confirmed that the Earth is now (on
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average) already 1°C above pre-industrial levels. 2016 was the warmest year on record, with 2019
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confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to be the second warmest year on
record after 2016. Figure 3 from WMO shows the rapid long-term warming trend since the 1980s,
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after which each decade has been warmer than the previous one, with average temperatures for the
five-year (2015-2019) and ten-year (2010-2019) periods being the highest on record.
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Figure 3: Global mean temperature difference from 1850 – 1900 (°C) [iii]

January 2020 has already been the warmest on record in many places – including in Antarctica
where record high temperatures are leading to large-scale ice melt and glacier fracturing, which
will contribute to global sea level rise. Meanwhile, smoke and pollutants from the extensive fires in
Australia are permeating the globe, spiking CO emissions.
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2
Essentially , the world is experiencing increasingly frequent and severe weather-related phenomena
such as heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tropical cyclones and heavy rain and
snowfall, a selection of which from 2019 are seen in Figure 4 published by the WMO based on data
from the WMO and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Already vulnerable
and poor population groups are likely to be the most affected by such events. The WMO Statement
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on the State of the Global Climate in 2019 devotes an extensive section to weather and climate
impacts on human health, food security, migration, ecosystems and marine life. 56

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