IPCC report; IFRC: “This is a call for transformation. There is no time for delay”

A woman in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka tends to her farmlands. She has received help from the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society to adopt better water management practices so she can still produce enough crops even in drier conditions.

A woman in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka tends to her farmlands. She has received help from the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society to adopt better water management practices so she can still produce enough crops even in drier conditions.

Photo: IFRC/Power of Play

Geneva, 20 March 2023 - The following quotes can be attributed to Erin Coughlan de Perez, who is a Lead Author of one of the underlying reports from the IPCC synthesis report released today and IFRC expert on climate change. 

“This report is a stark reminder of what we, the IFRC, as the world’s largest humanitarian network have been witnessing and warning for years: climate change is driving humanitarian crises and human suffering around the world. The window is closing, but the report also shows that it is not too late yet. It is time for the international community to take urgent action to reduce emissions to stay below the 1.5 degrees warming limit and work with communities to adapt and prepare for climate change impacts. 

What is interesting about this report is that we usually talk about different parts of the climate crisis separately - reducing emissions, adapting to save lives, or responding to losses and damages. This report acknowledges that we need to do everything at once, and it gives a roadmap for how we can achieve this. That roadmap is not a simple one, where we just make a few minor changes and keep going with the status quo. Instead, it is a call to transformation - fundamentally altering society to achieve climate-resilient development.    

The recent agreement at COP27 on loss and damage to establish new funding arrangements for vulnerable countries is a welcome step forward. However, progress on climate adaptation remains uneven, with the gaps between what is needed and what has been achieved being starkly felt by those living in lower-income countries.   

 More financial pledges are needed, and funds must reach the communities most affected, be predictable and flexible to invest in solutions such as early warning systems linked to community action plans to prevent and respond to climate impacts”.  

To request an interview or for more information, please contact:  

[email protected] 

In Geneva: Tommaso Della Longa, +41 79 708 43 67 

In Washington: Marie Claudet, +1 202 999 8689 

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