An urgent need for COP27: confronting converging crises

Jim Falk^{1

2}, Rita R Colwell^{3

4}, Swadhin K Behera^{5

6}, Adel S El-Beltagy⁷, Peter H Gleick⁸, Charles F Kennel^{9

10}, Yuan Tseh Lee¹¹, Cherry A Murray^{12

13}, Ismail Serageldin¹⁴, Kazuhiko Takeuchi^{15

16}, Tetsuzo Yasunari^{17

18}, Chiho Watanabe^{19

20}, Joanne Kauffman²¹, Kurt Soderland²², Ismahane Elouafi²³, Raj Paroda²⁴, Ashok K Chapagain²⁵, John Rundle²⁶, Naota Hanasaki²⁷, Haruo Hayashi²⁸, Ebun Akinsete²⁹, Sachiko Hayashida³⁰

Affiliations

¹ School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
² University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
³ Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, USA.
⁴ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
⁵ Application Laboratory, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan.
⁶ Department of Ocean Technology, Policy and Environment, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ International Dryland Development Commission, Arid Land Agricultural Graduate Studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁸ Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security, Oakland, USA.
⁹ Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, USA.
¹⁰ Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹¹ Academia Sinica, New Taipei, Taiwan.
¹² Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.
¹³ University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.
¹⁴ The Library of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt.
¹⁵ Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Kanagawa, Japan.
¹⁶ Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁷ RIHN Center, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), Kyoto, Japan.
¹⁸ Kyoto Climate Change Adaptation Center (KCCAC), Kyoto, Japan.
¹⁹ School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
²⁰ The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
²¹ Science for Sustainable Societies, Springer-Verlag, Paris, France.
²² Safe Water Network, New York, USA.
²³ Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
²⁴ Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), New Delhi, India.
²⁵ Pacific Institute, London, UK.
²⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Davis, Davis, USA.
²⁷ Center for Climate Change Adaptation (Climate Change Impacts Assessment Research Section), National Institute of Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan.
²⁸ National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, Ibaraki, Japan.
²⁹ International Centre for Research on the Environment and the Economy/UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Greece, Athens, Greece.
³⁰ Research Institute for Humanity and Nature Faculty of Science (RIHN), Kyoto, Japan.

PMID: 36405348
PMCID: PMC9647240
DOI: 10.1007/s11625-022-01253-5

An urgent need for COP27: confronting converging crises

Jim Falk et al. Sustain Sci. 2023.

. 2023;18(2):1059-1063.

doi: 10.1007/s11625-022-01253-5. Epub 2022 Nov 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
² University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
³ Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, USA.
⁴ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
⁵ Application Laboratory, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan.
⁶ Department of Ocean Technology, Policy and Environment, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ International Dryland Development Commission, Arid Land Agricultural Graduate Studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁸ Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security, Oakland, USA.
⁹ Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, USA.
¹⁰ Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹¹ Academia Sinica, New Taipei, Taiwan.
¹² Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.
¹³ University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.
¹⁴ The Library of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt.
¹⁵ Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Kanagawa, Japan.
¹⁶ Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁷ RIHN Center, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), Kyoto, Japan.
¹⁸ Kyoto Climate Change Adaptation Center (KCCAC), Kyoto, Japan.
¹⁹ School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
²⁰ The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
²¹ Science for Sustainable Societies, Springer-Verlag, Paris, France.
²² Safe Water Network, New York, USA.
²³ Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
²⁴ Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), New Delhi, India.
²⁵ Pacific Institute, London, UK.
²⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Davis, Davis, USA.
²⁷ Center for Climate Change Adaptation (Climate Change Impacts Assessment Research Section), National Institute of Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan.
²⁸ National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, Ibaraki, Japan.
²⁹ International Centre for Research on the Environment and the Economy/UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Greece, Athens, Greece.
³⁰ Research Institute for Humanity and Nature Faculty of Science (RIHN), Kyoto, Japan.

PMID: 36405348
PMCID: PMC9647240
DOI: 10.1007/s11625-022-01253-5

Abstract

The last 12 months have provided further evidence of the potential for cascading ecological and socio-political crises that were warned of 12 months ago. Then a consensus statement from the Regional Action on Climate Change Symposium warned: "the Earth's climatic, ecological, and human systems are converging towards a crisis that threatens to engulf global civilization within the lifetimes of children now living." Since then, the consequences of a broad set of extreme climate events (notably droughts, floods, and fires) have been compounded by interaction with impacts from multiple pandemics (including COVID-19 and cholera) and the Russia-Ukraine war. As a result, new connections are becoming visible between climate change and human health, large vulnerable populations are experiencing food crises, climate refugees are on the move, and the risks of water, food, and climate disruption have been visibly converging and compounding. Many vulnerable populations now face serious challenges to adapt. In light of these trends, this year, RACC identifies a range of measures to be taken at global and regional levels to bolster the resilience of these populations in the face of such emerging crises. In particular, at all scales, there is a need for globally available local data, reliable analytic techniques, community capacity to plan adaptation strategies, and the resources (scientific, technical, cultural, and economic) to implement them. To date, the rate of growth of the support for climate change resilience lags behind the rapid growth of cascading and converging risks. As an urgent message to COP27, it is proposed that the time is now right to devote much greater emphasis, global funding, and support to the increasing adaptation needs of vulnerable populations.

Keywords: Biodiversity; Climate Change; Food and Water crisis; Risk interaction.

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References

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An urgent need for COP27: confronting converging crises

Affiliations

An urgent need for COP27: confronting converging crises

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

LinkOut - more resources

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