No letting up on tackling climate crisis

The recent spate of extreme weather events around the globe shows that man-made climate change is an immediate and growing threat. The science is clear, global warming is driving more severe heatwaves, floods and storms and accelerating sea level rise. Every corner of the globe is now affected. Yet in a world beset with so many problems - from the Russian invasion and war in Ukraine to soaring inflation - it might be tempting to park action on climate change to one side and deal with it later. It is human nature to deal with the most pressing issues first and tackle things perceived to be less urgent or too challenging later on.

But that would be a mistake. Such reasoning is tough to accept for the millions of people in South Asia, for instance, who were hit first by a months-long heatwave and now by deadly flooding. Such disasters will become more severe and more frequent as more greenhouse gases are pumped into the air. How much worse things become depends on the actions taken now, the United Nations says.

The impact of climate change goes far beyond just the weather. Increasingly erratic weather is affecting crop production and food prices. Droughts and heatwaves can severely affect power generation. Extreme heat, cold and storms lead to labour and supply chain disruptions, hurting productivity.

Climate change is also exacerbating existing global challenges, including growing urbanisation, poverty and pandemics, jeopardising future development. Repeated disasters and deepening poverty can wipe out economic growth and lead to mass migration. Rising sea levels are already threatening coastlines and the low-lying island nations. A hotter planet is damaging nature by exceeding the tolerance thresholds of plants and animals, driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals, the United Nations climate panel says.

Nature, or the planet's biodiversity, is already in pretty bad shape because of over-exploitation of the land, forests and seas for resources. Yet nature is a vital tool to curb the impact of climate change because it acts as a large store of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

The broad reach of climate change means it should be treated no different from dealing with a pandemic or a war. The global response to the energy supply crunch has been a rush to fossil fuels. But this risks locking in more polluting energy for years to come. Climate solutions exist and green investment is increasing. But it is far from enough and not yet meeting the world's growing energy needs. Investment needs to be urgently directed to help all nations quickly transition towards a green economy and away from an increasingly dangerous future.