AFAC Climate Change Group update

The AFAC Climate Change Group met in early March where discussions included the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II Report, the United Nations Environmental Program Frontiers’ Report and the development of their 2022-24 Strategic Work Plan.

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability was released on 28^th February 2020. The Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report assesses the impacts of climate change, looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change.

The report notes that the "recognition of climate risks can strengthen adaptation and mitigation actions and transitions that reduce risks. Taking action is enabled by governance, finance, knowledge and capacity building, technology and catalysing conditions."

Member of the AFAC Climate Change Group, Andrew Dowdy from the Bureau of Meteorology, was a key author for the Australasian chapter. An outcome from the discussion in the meeting for the Group is to contextualise the Report for the fire and emergency services sector as part of their Work Plan.

AIDR recommends reading the Summary for Policymakers, highlighting and summarising key elements of the Report.