Berlin/Geneva (dpa) – According to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming has already dangerously altered nature, and billions of people are increasingly suffering as a result. Reporting on the impacts of climate change on Monday, the IPCC working group said that between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people are already particularly vulnerable to climate change because of their living conditions. “The impacts we are seeing today are occurring much more rapidly and are more destructive and widespread than expected 20 years ago,” the IPCC said. “We have a shrinking window of opportunity,” warned the working group’s co-chair, German marine biologist Hans-Otto Pörtner.
In response to the new report, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke has announced decisive action in the fight against global warming. With an immediate climate adaptation programme to be adopted in the near future, the German government intends to significantly ramp up its efforts. Lemke also stressed that Germany must become less dependent on imports of raw materials from abroad, saying that the success of adaptation measures also depends on this.
The new report is part two of a 6th Assessment Report on Climate Change. The first part, relating to the scientific basis, was published in August 2021. The third part deals with ways to mitigate climate change and is expected in April.