By Ebi Kesiena
Britain must urgently gear up for global warming of at least 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050, the country’s climate advisers have warned, saying it remains dangerously unprepared for extreme weather events that are already happening.
This year, Britain recorded its hottest summer since records began, a season that took a toll on public health, agriculture, and infrastructure, with droughts declared in several parts of the country.
“It is clear we are not yet adapted for the changes in weather and climate that we are living with today, let alone those that are expected over coming decades,” the Climate Change Committee (CCC) wrote in a letter to the government, responding to a request for advice from an environment minister.
The CCC identified six key areas that require immediate attention: public health, food security, infrastructure resilience, protection of cities and towns from extreme weather, maintenance of public services, and climate-resilient economic growth.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, most governments pledged to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. However, scientists say the pace of change has exceeded expectations, with global temperatures already about 1.3°C to 1.4°C higher, based on data from the UN and EU science agencies.
“We continue to believe that (limiting the rise to) 1.5 degrees is achievable as a long-term goal, but clearly the risk that it will not be achieved is getting higher,” Julia King, chair of the CCC’s Adaptation Committee, told a press briefing.
Meanwhile, the group warned that global warming of up to 4°C by the end of the century cannot be ruled out and stressed that such possibilities must be considered in long-term infrastructure and housing plans designed to last the next 75 to 100 years.
