Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries committed to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees. Over ten years later, the world remains off course, with the 1.5-degree threshold very likely to be crossed within the next decade (UNEP, 2025).
Because of past emissions, some warming will continue, which will compound and intensify climate extremes and deepen humanitarian crises. In all scenarios, more climate adaptation will be needed, requiring profound social, cultural, political and economic change. Without effective mitigation, and once the limits of adaptation strategies are exceeded, climate change will continue to take a toll on all aspects of people’s lives: their homes, infrastructure, assets and livelihoods. Communities will need support to avert, minimize and address the loss and damage associated with the impacts of climate change, and to limit biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, so that the most vulnerable people and communities – including those affected by conflict – do not fall even further behind.
Source: www.icrc.org
