The world is heading into a “doom loop” where the “phoney war” over the climate crisis is ending and we are facing the “real consequences”, said an author of a think-tank report.
Researchers from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Chatham House said that the focus has shifted from the major problem facing the world which is climate change and instead are tackling short-term issues.
It warned that simply trying to cope with the impact of the climate crisis is moving the emphasis from cutting carbon emissions and making the situation worse.
Researchers have pointed to the way that governments are now spending their time focusing on issues like migration, flooding and food supply.
The IPPR has said it is crucial that the target remains keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5C.
“We’ve entered, sadly, a new chapter in the climate and ecological crisis,” said Laurie Laybourn, an associate fellow at IPPR.
“The phoney war is coming to an end and the real consequences now present us with difficult decisions. We absolutely can drive towards a more sustainable, more equitable world. But our ability to navigate through the shocks while staying focused on steering out the storm is key.”
The report honed in on examples like Africa which it said was already losing up to 15% of its GDP a year due to global warming and so this in itself means there is less money to tackle climate change.
Then looking at the UK, Mr Laybourn said: “It may not necessarily be the sheer cost of responding to disasters that’s the biggest distraction. It could be that it has to deal at the same time with a food-price shock and resurgent nativism, playing off fears about so-called climate refugees.”
The report has spoken of a "dangerous dynamic" over reaching the goal of 1.5%.
"The historical failure to sufficiently tackle the climate and ecological crisis could create consequences that challenge the ability of societies to tackle the root causes of this crisis," it stated.
"This is a doom loop: the consequences of the crisis and the failure to address it draw focus and resources from tackling its causes. We describe this as a ‘strategic risk’ to our collective ability to realise a transformation of societies that ultimately avoids catastrophic climate and ecological change.
"This dangerous dynamic extends to how prospects for tackling the climate and ecological crisis are framed. We explore a key example: the growing debate over whether it is now inevitable that global heating will breach the internationally agreed goal of 1.5°C.
"A systematic effort is needed to tackle threats and grasp opportunities for rapid environmental action thrown up by the deepening consequences of the crisis: to make the green transition itself more resilient. Otherwise, the world could head further into a spiral of accelerating environmental shocks and counterproductive, defensive reactions."
