IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Since 1900, the average global temperature has increased by 0.74°C. Humans are further changing the climate by their actions, especially through emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO₂) which artificially warms the earth’s atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels is largely to blame.

Climate change will increasingly cause storms, droughts, floods and fires and have a severe impact on food production, water availability and ecosystems such as forests and wetlands. A major concern is how rapid climate change will magnify existing environmental stresses and contribute to food insecurity, conflict over resources, and loss of livelihood for millions of people.

Certain regions will be worse affected than others. Global warming is expected to be greatest over land and at high northern latitudes. The Arctic, Sub Saharan Africa, small islands and the big river deltas of Asia will be most seriously affected.

Those least responsible for global emissions, the poor and vulnerable in developing countries, are bearing the brunt of climate change impacts. It is a global responsibility to help these people adapt.

The world has a wide range of solutions that will help combat climate change. Protecting and better managing our natural resources is a cost-effective and efficient way to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions while we make the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon world in the coming decades. Natural resources can also help us adapt to the impacts of climate change we are already facing. It is an opportunity we cannot afford to pass up.

• Sea levels rose 20 cm last century
• Glaciers, snow cover and sea ice are all declining
• We are experiencing more heat‐waves, droughts and extreme rainfall and more intense tropical cyclones
• Global temperature could rise by as much as 6.4°C by the end of the century
• Up to 30% of plant and animal species could go extinct if the global temperature increase exceeds 1.5-2.5°C.
• Arctic sea ice could disappear altogether during the summer by the second half of this century.
• Crop yields in tropical zones could significantly decrease with even a modest (1-2°C) temperature increase.
• One in six countries in the world faces food shortages each year because of severe droughts that could become semi-permanent under climate change.
• The overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing up to 20% of global GDP each year, while the costs of action now can be limited to around 1% of global GDP each year.