The world currently lacks an authoritative and up-to-date assessment of climate change risks according to a group of experts led by the Met Office’s Professor Rowan Sutton and Professor Peter Stott. Writing in the journal Nature, the authors are calling for a global assessment of avoidable climate change risks to help governments and citizens understand the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

They warn that without accelerated global action, the consequences of climate change impacts will be increasingly severe, affecting millions of people and potentially undermining global stability. But despite the huge consequences of climate change and how wide-reaching the risks are, no internationally coordinated and mandated global risk analysis has been conducted.

Professor Rowan Sutton – one of two senior commentary authors and director of the Met Office Hadley Centre – said: “Despite clear scientific evidence and repeated warnings, the world remains unprepared for the scale and complexity of these challenges.

“Humanity still has the opportunity to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and shape a more prosperous, liveable future. A global assessment of avoidable climate change risks would enable political leaders and citizens to fully understand what is at stake and motivate us all to seize that opportunity – while we still have it.”

A series of global scientific reports – such as those produced by the IPCC – have helped to demonstrate many impacts of climate change, but the authors point out that these are science assessments rather than risk assessments. The absence of a global risk assessment makes it difficult for governments, businesses, and communities to understand the full scale of the threat, prioritise resources, and plan effective mitigation responses.

The impacts of rising temperatures, extreme weather events, sea level rise, and shifting climate patterns are already being felt in every region. Looking to the future, climate risks threaten food and water security, health, infrastructure, and economic development.

Sutton added: “Developing a comprehensive global climate risk assessment is not without its difficulties. The complexity of climate science, the diversity of regional impacts, the need for diverse expertise, and the rapidly evolving nature of the risks all present significant obstacles. In addition, political, economic, and data-sharing barriers have so far hindered the creation of a unified framework that can be updated regularly and accepted internationally.”

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