The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on Monday, has unequivocally stated that the ground beneath our feet is shifting quickly, and that even if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we are doomed to witness a slew of climate change-induced disasters. The report has said that human-induced climate change has caused widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people. It has also revealed that some impacts of the rise in climate and weather extremes are irreversible, for natural and human systems are pushed beyond their ability to adapt. What is alarming is that these impacts are happening not in the distant future, but in the next two decades.

“The world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius," the report warns. "Even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible. Risks for society will increase, including to infrastructure and low-lying coastal settlements.” The impact, the report has stated clearly, is going to be colossal, with over 3.5 billion people—over 45 percent of the global population—living in areas vulnerable to climate change as multiple climate hazards occur simultaneously, and multiple climatic and non-climatic risks interact.

Needless to say, Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change, as is evident in the fact that highlands are fast becoming new hubs of vector-borne diseases, with the rise of viruses like dengue, chikungunya and Japanese encephalitis. As per the report, Nepal is projected to see a 50 percent increase in damage to areas under paddy cultivation, and a substantial increase in glacial retreat. It is all too clear that the assessments we made about climate change 20 years ago are fast turning obsolete as the impacts are happening much faster and at a greater magnitude today than expected.

The adaptation actions, however, have not kept up with the pace and magnitude of the climate change impacts. The report has stated that it is no longer possible to stay calm by making marginal, reactive or incremental changes; in addition to technological and economic changes, there is a need to radically transform the way we understand climate adaptation and resilience. A major precondition for climate risk reduction and adaptation is that the world must come together to fight for a shared future. But is the world listening?

As of today, our priorities lie elsewhere, as is evident in the way much of the world is now engrossed by Russia's war with Ukraine. If unrestrained industrialisation and greed for capital accumulation were not enough, the spectre of a protracted conflict threatens to take away whatever little is being done towards keeping climate change in check and reducing vulnerability of humans and natural systems. While the developed world continues to pay lip service when it comes to taking responsibility for its contribution to climate change and making efforts to reduce its impact, the developing world, not one to be left behind, is fast making the same mistakes that the former did in the past. Our opportunities to undo the harm we have done to the planet and to ourselves are fast slipping away; if we continue to disregard the warnings that are in our face, we must begin to question our cognitive capabilities altogether.