What did the new IPCC report tell us?

Cover page of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

IPCC just launched a new report "Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability". Again, it is not surprising that human-induced climate change is happening now. What is horrifying is that it is increasingly causing widespread adverse impacts at the current 1.1°C of warming, and these impacts can result in losses and damages for people and nature all over the world. Many risks are bigger than previously thought. The report highlights that if we don’t act now, we will lose life, livelihoods, ecosystems, and species now and forever.
 
Some highlights: 

• Climate change affects everyone but vulnerable groups will be disproportionately impacted.
• Irreversible impacts are happening as natural and human systems are pushed beyond their ability to cope.
• Climate adaptation has made a difference, but it is not enough for now and the future.
• We are not prepared for more global warming and we need more investments in adaptation.
• Some of our responses may do more harm than good (maladaptation).
• Every fraction of a degree matters as every increment of further warming makes things worse. 1.5°C is no paradise but still a critical threshold for many eco-systems - and much safer than higher warming levels.
• There is a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity to enable climate resilient development. This is a critical decade for action.
• Protecting and restoring nature is critical as we need our oceans and forests to help protect us.
• Some solutions exist for a safer future - but it is clear that this is not without rapid, deep and sustained emission cuts and enablers such as bankable nature solutions.
• The report has a climate/nature/people Triple Challenge framing (aka ‘climate change’; ‘eco-systems including biodiversity’ and ‘human society’). 
• ​It recognises the value of diverse forms of knowledge such as scientific, as well as Indigenous knowledge and local knowledge.

Implication for fashion industry: 

• The fashion industry was responsible for some 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions in 2018, about 4 percent of the global total, which is equivalent to the entire economies of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined.
• The IPCC has stated clearly nature plays a huge role in climate resilience. A lot of brands has done well on carbon reduction, however, many of them are yet to work on "nature" related measures. "Nature" has to be part of their sustainability journey.
• Brands can include nature in their sustainability journey by looking at how natural environment is being affected throughout their supply chain. 
• Brands can start with the way they source materials. For example, are the paper packaging coming from certified paper sources that do not cause deforestation? Every year, one-third of the CO2 released from burning fossil fuels, is absorbed by forests. Forests play a big part in keeping the rise in temperature below 1.5°C.
• Brands can also make sure they use materials that do not harm waterways, for example, avoid using any form of plastic to prevent marine litter pollution or avoid chemical pollution throughout their supply chain. Our oceans provide critical eco-system services such as carbon storage, oxygen generation, food and income generation.
• Last but not least, a circular economy business model promoting conscious consumption must be one of the sustainability goals of the brand.