Climate change and its consequences as the trigger for natural disasters are considered one of the top challenges menacing the world today.
Iran has not been an exception since it has so far been victimized by the phenomenon in numerous ways including desertification, drought and dust storms.
This was the topic of discussion at a press conference by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change held in Tehran on Monday at Iran Meteorological Organization, where the panel's programs and targets for Western and Central Asia were discussed.
The meeting brought together national, regional and urban policymakers, organizations, chambers of commerce, business leaders, academia, students and the media.
Jonathan Lynn, IPCC head of communications, elaborated on the Panel's targets to promote the position of IPCC in Western and Central Asia in collaboration with Iran Meteorological Organization.
"Although the IPCC do not conduct original research, we provide the result of global research on climate change to governments, and inform policymakers, administrative offices, and NGOs of the impact of climate change on different sectors in Iran and the whole region," Lynn said.
Scientific Input
The expert also presented IPCC's findings from a host of climate change research studies and its future program to make use of the data in authoring AR6 (Sixth Assessment Report).
Lynn said IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report confirms the overwhelming scientific consensus that the impacts of climate change are accelerating, and they are largely driven by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
For the first time, the report also quantified the global "carbon budget", i.e. the amount of carbon dioxide we can emit while still having a likely chance of limiting global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, he added.
"If emissions continue unabated, the world is on track to exceed this budget in only about 30 years, exposing communities to increasingly dangerous forest fires, extreme weather, drought, and other climate impacts."
Asked about the limitations that AR6 regulations will pose on developing and underdeveloped countries with ignorable technology to cut their toxic emissions, Lynn said the IPCC is not to force any government to stick to a certain rule.
"The IPCC only provides the earlier observations and does not have its own agenda. We look at the science; we assess it and present an image. We do not push a particular line," Lynn told Financial Tribune.
"We provide the information to the governments but we never tell them what to do or what is their responsibility. It is completely upon them to decide what their policies would be," he added.
Options
Speaking at the conference, Edvin Aldrain, IPCC's working group vice chair, emphasized that when climate change reaches extreme conditions, there will be only three options.
The first is mitigation, that is "measures to reduce the pace and magnitude of the changes in global climate being caused by human activities," Aldrain said.
Adaptation, he said, will be the second strategy. This involves measures to reduce the adverse impacts on human well-being resulting from the changes in climate that do occur.
The third option, which is ironically "the option of having no option," is to suffer from the adverse impacts that are not avoided by either mitigation or adaptation.
Iran's Share
Experts attending the conference highlighted the fragile environmental conditions in Iran and suggested the Sixth Assessment Report should be seriously considered in policymaking.
Davoud Parhizkar, Iran's representative at IPCC and president of Iran Meteorological Organization, underlined the negative effects of climate change throughout the country and named a number of possible compensatory measures to alleviate the tension.
However, he noted that being exposed to natural imbalances offers a unique opportunity for new and productive ideas to thrive.
"Converting Iran to an international hub of renewable energy production by drawing on southern and central desert areas and giving support to knowledge-based firms to help develop modern technology in solar energy production are among most effective measures we can employ."
Parhizkar also noted that planning to gradually change today's common diet is necessary. "We should eliminate crops which do not match the agricultural capacities of the country."
Broad Scope
IPCC's assessment reports scientifically investigate the effects of climate change on different aspects of human life, including agriculture, migration, health, water sources and economic growth.
It also helps governments to adjust to the changes.
According to Hoesung Lee, chair of the IPCC, the AR6 Synthesis Report will be delivered in time for the first global stocktake (GST) in 2023 by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change under the Paris Agreement.
In September 2018, the IPCC will also finalize Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. The panel will also refine the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories for delivery in 2019.
IPCC assessments provide governments, at all levels, with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies. The findings are a key input into the international negotiations to tackle climate change.
IPCC was established by the United Nations Environment Program (UN Environment) and the World Meteorological Organization in 1988 to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments concerning climate change, its implications and risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation strategies. It has 195 member states, including Iran.
