2011-2020 has been a decade of accelerating climate change

The Global Climate 2011-2020-A decade of Accelerating Climate Change of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reiterated that extreme events across the decade have had devastating impacts, particularly on food security and human mobility, which affects national development and progress towards sustainable development goals (SDGs).

According to the report, it was the warmest decade on record by a clear margin for both land and ocean. It is to be noted that each successive decade since the 1990s has been warmer than all previous decades. According to Petteri Taalash, Secretary-General, WMO, "it shows without a doubt that green-house gas concentrations have increased in the atmosphere, thereby contributing to record levels of warming of the land and ocean, the melting of ice sheets and glaciers, rising sea levels and ocean acidification."

With the temperature becoming high and atmospheric concentrations of three major greenhouse gases-carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide- also continued to rise over the past three decades, there is a compelling need to take steps to reduce these emissions to substantial levels. Additionally, as per the Paris Agreement, meaningful mitigation efforts have to be made if we are to stabilize the climate to 1.5°C and well below 2°C.

Anthropogenic ozone depletion is caused by production and emission of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) like Chlorofluorocarbons (CFS) and Halos in the atmosphere. According to the report, due to the action taken under the Montreal Protocol, the total amount of chlorine entering the stratosphere from controlled and uncontrolled ODS declined by 11.5% from its peak value of 3660 ppt in 1993, to 3240 ppt in 2020. This has to be controlled while also ensuring Ozone recovery.

The report talks of ocean warming and acidification which are increasing and marine heat waves are becoming more frequent and intense.

According to the study, between 2011 and 2020 approximately 60% of the surface of the ocean experienced heat waves and the sea level rose at an annual rate of 4.5mm.

According to the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) glaciers measured around the world thinned by an annual average of around 1m from 2011-2020. A critical impact of glacial mass loss is the collapse of entire or large sections of glaciers, killing people and livestock, destroying downstream infrastructure and creating other possible consequences such as damage to corps, or disturbance of water sources. This needs to be moderated and controlled as the amount of loss is unprecedented in the observed record and the impact is huge on human lives, livestock and physical infrastructure. Greenland and Antarctica lost 38% more ice between 2011 and 2020 than during 2001-2010, which is consistent with an acceleration of ice sheet mass loss. Another thing to be noted is that Arctic sea ice extent continues on a multi-decade decline. The mean seasonal minimum was 30% below average.

According to the report, of the 13 known events resulting in more than 1000 deaths, six were heat waves, four were monsoon flooding or landslides associated with such flooding and three tropical cyclones. Further, eight of the events occurred in Asia, four heat waves in Europe and one in Africa. On the other hand, of the 27 events with known economic losses exceeding $ 10 billion in 2022, 16 occurred within the United States and eight in East Asia, 13 of the events were tropical cyclones, eight floods and three wildfires. Only two events-Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines in 2013 and monsoon season flooding in India in 2019, appear on both lists.

Extreme heat has been rising in all parts of the world both day and night and extreme cold has become less frequent with warming global temperatures. Tropical cyclones are still ranked among the most significant natural hazards, accounting for larger share of the decade's high impact events both in terms of casualties and economic losses. Extreme rainfall and flooding created significant natural hazards at a range of timescales causing damages running into billions of dollars, thousands of deaths and displacement of persons in the decade 2011-2020. Similarly droughts during this period had major socioeconomic and humanitarian impacts.

Extra tropical windstorms and severe thunderstorms leading to flash floods, hailstorms, severe winds and tornadoes had major impacts at the local level causing billions of dollars damage. Most of today's problems like lesser food availability, severe chronic diseases and large scale displacement and migration are due to climate and environmental change. The report mentions that humans are becoming more susceptible to infectious diseases as dengue and malaria transmissions are increasing with changes to global climate.

It is therefore evident that in order to achieve Sustainable Developmental Goals (SGHs) and lessening the burden and sufferings of human lives while maintaining perfect ecological balance, the efforts towards mitigation and adaptation has to get accelerated and all sources of emissions are to be controlled if not fully avoided. Nations must consistently phase down fossil fuels and go for alternative energy sources in order to achieve the desired progress towards net-zero emissions.

According to the SDGs Report 2023, the progress towards SDGs has been meagre and states that "halfway to the deadline for the 2030 agenda, we are leaving more than the half the world behind. Progress on more than 50% targets has been weak and insufficient, on 30% it has stalled or gone into reverse. These include key targets on poverty, hunger and climate. Unless we act now, the 2030 agenda could become an epitaph for a world that might have been "

There is a perfect correlation between SDGs and addressing Climate Change as the same inextricably inter-wined as per the recent ‘Synergy Solutions for a World in Crisis’ report, developed by the Expert Group on Climate and SDGs Synergies. Pursuing the 2030 agenda on SDGs should be in tune with the Paris Agreement, which could significantly and efficiently advance both agendas, maximize co-benefits and outweigh limit trade-offs.

It is to be noted that the report provides synergy between these two and taking mitigation and adaptation climate policies that offer co-benefits like improved health outcomes, reduced air pollution and agricultural emissions and improved food and water security by reduced exposure to climate risks.

The progress on SDGs are more important for low-income and less developed countries.

Due to Covid-19 and geo political situation, their debt levels are also high, which means that the required priority towards climate action may get affected in such circumstances which needs to be avoided.

It is therefore worth remembering the words of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres "Climate action in the 21st century's greatest opportunity to drive forward all the SDGs." Knowing well that any delay in our coordinated action on climate change and achievements of SDGs are going to have considerable impact on the progress of human lives, every nation must prioritise and accelerate action on both the fronts.

This will be our primary responsibility that can ring in happier days for the present and future generations.

(The author is former Chairman & Managing Director of Indian Overseas Bank)