SPECIAL REPORT OF THE
INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL
ON CLIMATE CHANGE
MANAGING THE RISKS OF EXTREME
EVENTS AND DISASTERS TO ADVANCE
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
SUMMARY FOR POLICYMAKERS
1
Drafting Authors:
Simon K. Allen (Switzerland), Vicente Barros (Argentina), Ian Burton (Canada),
Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum (UK), Omar-Dario Cardona (Colombia), Susan L. Cutter (USA),
O. Pauline Dube (Botswana), Kristie L. Ebi (USA), Christopher B. Field (USA),
John W. Handmer (Australia), Padma N. Lal (Australia), Allan Lavell (Costa Rica),
Katharine J. Mach (USA), Michael D. Mastrandrea (USA), Gordon A. McBean (Canada),
Reinhard Mechler (Germany), Tom Mitchell (UK), Neville Nicholls (Australia),
Karen L. O’Brien (Norway), Taikan Oki (Japan), Michael Oppenheimer (USA), Mark Pelling
(UK), Gian-Kasper Plattner (Switzerland), Roger S. Pulwarty (USA), Sonia I. Seneviratne
(Switzerland), Thomas F. Stocker (Switzerland), Maarten K. van Aalst (Netherlands),
Carolina S. Vera (Argentina), Thomas J. Wilbanks (USA)
This Summary for Policymakers should be cited as:
IPCC, 2012: Summary for Policymakers. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance
Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea,
K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups
I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and
New York, NY, USA, pp. 1-19.
SPM Summaryfor Policymakers
2
A.
Summary for Policymakers
Context
This Summary for Policymakers presents key findings from the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme
Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX). The SREX approaches the topic by assessing the
scientific literature on issues that range from the relationship between climate change and extreme weather and
climate events (‘climate extremes’) to the implications of these events for society and sustainable development. The
assessment concerns the interaction of climatic, environmental, and human factors that can lead to impacts and
disasters, options for managing the risks posed by impacts and disasters, and the important role that non-climatic
factors play in determining impacts. Box SPM.1 defines concepts central to the SREX.
The character and severity of impacts from climate extremes depend not only on the extremes themselves but also on
exposure and vulnerability. In this report, adverse impacts are considered disasters when they produce widespread
damage and cause severe alterations in the normal functioning of communities or societies. Climate extremes,
exposure, and vulnerability are influenced by a wide range of factors, including anthropogenic climate change, natural
climate variability, and socioeconomic development (Figure SPM.1). Disaster risk management and adaptation to
climate change focus on reducing exposure and vulnerability and increasing resilience to the potential adverse impacts
of climate extremes, even though risks cannot fully be eliminated (Figure SPM.2). Although mitigation of climate
change is not the focus of this report, adaptation and mitigation can complement each other and together can
significantly reduce the risks of climate change. [SYR AR4, 5.3]
Figure SPM.1 | Illustration of the core concepts of SREX. The report assesses how exposure and vulnerability to weather and climate events determine impacts and the likelihood
of disasters (disaster risk). It evaluates the influence of natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change on climate extremes and other weather and climate events
that can contribute to disasters, as well as the exposure and vulnerability of human society and natural ecosystems. It also considers the role of development in trends in exposure
and vulnerability, implications for disaster risk, and interactions between disasters and development. The report examines how disaster risk management and adaptation to climate
change can reduce exposure and vulnerability to weather and climate events and thus reduce disaster risk, as well as increase resilience to the risks that cannot be eliminated.
Other important processes are largely outside the scope of this report, including the influence of development on greenhouse gas emissions and anthropogenic climate change,
and the potential for mitigation of anthropogenic climate change. [1.1.2, Figure 1-1]
3
Summary for Policymakers
Box SPM.1 | Definitions Central to SREX
Core concepts defined in the SREX glossary1 and used throughout the report include:
Climate Change: A change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean
and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due
to natural internal processes or external forcings, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in
land use.2
Climate Extreme (extreme weather or climate event): The occurrence of a value of a weather or climate variable above (or below)
a threshold value near the upper (or lower) ends of the range of observed values of the variable. For simplicity, both extreme weather
events and extreme climate events are referred to collectively as ‘climate extremes.’ The full definition is provided in Section 3.1.2.
Exposure: The presence of people; livelihoods; environmental services and resources; infrastructure; or economic, social, or cultural
assets in places that could be adversely affected.
Vulnerability: The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected.
Disaster: Severe alterations in the normal functioning of a community or a society due to hazardous physical events interacting with
vulnerable social conditions, leading to widespread adverse human, material, economic, or environmental effects that require immediate
emergency response to satisfy critical human needs and that may require external support for recovery.
Disaster Risk: The likelihood over a specified time period of severe alterations in the normal functioning of a community or a society
due to hazardous physical events interacting with vulnerable social conditions, leading to widespread adverse human, material,
economic, or environmental effects that require immediate emergency response to satisfy critical human needs and that may require
external support for recovery.
Disaster Risk Management: Processes for designing, implementing, and evaluating strategies, policies, and measures to improve the
understanding of disaster risk, foster disaster risk reduction and transfer, and promote continuous improvement in disaster preparedness,
response, and recovery practices, with the explicit purpose of increasing human security, well-being, quality of life, resilience, and
sustainable development.
Adaptation: In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to moderate harm or
exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects; human intervention may
facilitate adjustment to expected climate.
Resilience: The ability of a system and its component parts to anticipate, absorb, accommodate, or recover from the effects of a
hazardous event in a timely and efficient manner, including through ensuring the preservation, restoration, or improvement of its
essential basic structures and functions.
Transformation: The altering of fundamental attributes of a system (including value systems; regulatory, legislative, or bureaucratic
regimes; financial institutions; and technological or biological systems).
____________
1 Reflecting the diversity of the communities involved in this assessment and progress in science, several of the definitions used in this Special Report differ in breadth or
focus from those used in the Fourth Assessment Report and other IPCC reports.
2 This definition differs from that in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where climate change is defined as: “a change of climate
which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability
observed over comparable time periods.” The UNFCCC thus makes a distinction between climate change attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric
composition, and climate variability attributable to natural causes.
4
Summary for Policymakers
This report integrates perspectives from several historically distinct research communities studying climate science,
climate impacts, adaptation to climate change, and disaster risk management. Each community brings different
viewpoints, vocabularies, approaches, and goals, and all provide important insights into the status of the knowledge
base and its gaps. Many of the key assessment findings come from the interfaces among these communities. These
interfaces are also illustrated in Table SPM.1. To accurately convey the degree of certainty in key findings, the report
relies on the consistent use of calibrated uncertainty language, introduced in Box SPM.2. The basis for substantive
paragraphs in this Summary for Policymakers can be found in the chapter sections specified in square brackets.
Exposure and vulnerability are key determinants of disaster risk and of impacts when risk is realized.
[1.1.2, 1.2.3, 1.3, 2.2.1, 2.3, 2.5] For example, a tropical cyclone can have very different impacts depending on where
and when it makes landfall. [2.5.1, 3.1, 4.4.6] Similarly, a heat wave can have very different impacts on different
populations depending on their vulnerability. [Box 4-4, 9.2.1] Extreme impacts on human, ecological, or physical
systems can result from individual extreme weather or climate events. Extreme impacts can also result from non-
extreme events where exposure and vulnerability are high [2.2.1, 2.3, 2.5] or from a compounding of events or their
impacts. [1.1.2, 1.2.3, 3.1.3] For example, drought, coupled with extreme heat and low humidity, can increase the risk
of wildfire. [Box 4-1, 9.2.2]
Extreme and non-extreme weather or climate events affect vulnerability to future extreme events by modifying
resilience, coping capacity, and adaptive capacity. [2.4.3] In particular, the cumulative effects of disasters at local
Figure SPM.2 | Adaptation and disaster risk management approaches for reducing and managing disaster risk in a changing climate. This report assesses a wide range of
complementary adaptation and disaster risk management approaches that can reduce the risks of climate extremes and disasters and increase resilience to remaining risks as they
change over time. These approaches can be overlapping and can be pursued simultaneously. [6.5, Figure 6-3, 8.6]
5
B.
or sub-national levels can substantially affect
livelihood options and resources and the capacity
of societies and communities to prepare for and
respond to future disasters. [2.2, 2.7]
A changing climate leads to changes in the
frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration,
and timing of extreme weather and climate
events, and can result in unprecedented
extreme weather and climate events. Changes
in extremes can be linked to changes in the mean,
variance, or shape of probability distributions, or all
of these (Figure SPM.3). Some climate extremes (e.g.,
droughts) may be the result of an accumulation of
weather or climate events that are not extreme
when considered independently. Many extreme
weather and climate events continue to be the
result of natural climate variability. Natural variability
will be an important factor in shaping future
extremes in addition to the effect of anthropogenic
changes in climate. [3.1]
Observations of
Exposure, Vulnerability,
Climate Extremes,
Impacts, and Disaster
Losses
The impacts of climate extremes and the potential
for disasters result from the climate extremes
themselves and from the exposure and vulnerability
of human and natural systems. Observed changes
in climate extremes reflect the influence of
anthropogenic climate change in addition to natural
climate variability, with changes in exposure and
vulnerability influenced by both climatic and non-
climatic factors.
Exposure and Vulnerability
Exposure and vulnerability are dynamic, varying across temporal and spatial scales, and depend on
economic, social, geographic, demographic, cultural, institutional, governance, and environmental factors
(high confidence). [2.2, 2.3, 2.5] Individuals and communities are differentially exposed and vulnerable based on
inequalities expressed through levels of wealth and education, disability, and health status, as well as gender, age,
class, and other social and cultural characteristics. [2.5]
Settlement patterns, urbanization, and changes in socioeconomic conditions have all influenced observed
trends in exposure and vulnerability to climate extremes (high confidence). [4.2, 4.3.5] For example, coastal
Summary for Policymakers
Without climate change
With climate change
extreme cold extreme hotcold hot
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extreme cold
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cold
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more
extreme hot
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more
hot
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more
hot
weather
a)
b)
c)
Shifted Mean
Increased Variability
Changed Symmetry
Mean:
without and with weather change
Figure SPM.3 | The effect of changes in temperature distribution on
extremes. Different changes in temperature distributions between present and
future climate and their effects on extreme values of the distributions:
(a) effects of a simple shift of the entire distribution toward a warmer climate;
(b) effects of an increase in temperature variability with no shift in the mean;
(c) effects of an altered shape of the distribution, in this example a change in
asymmetry toward the hotter part of the distribution. [Figure 1-2, 1.2.2]
6
Summary for Policymakers
settlements, including in small islands and megadeltas, and mountain settlements are exposed and vulnerable to
climate extremes in both developed and developing countries, but with differences among regions and countries.
[4.3.5, 4.4.3, 4.4.6, 4.4.9, 4.4.10] Rapid urbanization and the growth of megacities, especially in developing countries,
have led to the emergence of highly vulnerable urban communities, particularly through informal settlements and
inadequate land management (high agreement, robust evidence). [5.5.1] See also Case Studies 9.2.8 and 9.2.9.
Vulnerable populations also include refugees, internally displaced people, and those living in marginal areas. [4.2, 4.3.5]
Climate Extremes and Impacts
There is evidence from observations gathered since 1950 of change in some extremes. Confidence in
observed changes in extremes depends on the quality and quantity of data and the availability of studies
analyzing these data, which vary across regions and for different extremes. Assigning ‘low confidence’ in
observed changes in a specific extreme on regional or global scales neither implies nor excludes the
possibility of changes in this extreme. Extreme events are rare, which means there are few data available to make
assessments regarding changes in their frequency or intensity. The more rare the event the more difficult it is to identify
long-term changes. Global-scale trends in a specific extreme may be either more reliable (e.g., for temperature
extremes) or less reliable (e.g., for droughts) than some regional-scale trends, depending on the geographical uniformity
of the trends in the specific extreme. The following paragraphs provide further details for specific climate extremes
from observations since 1950. [3.1.5, 3.1.6, 3.2.1]
It is very likely that there has been an overall decrease in the number of cold days and nights,3 and an overall increase
in the number of warm days and nights,3 at the global scale, that is, for most land areas with sufficient data. It is likely
that these changes have also occurred at the continental scale in North America, Europe, and Australia. There is medium
confidence in a warming trend in daily temperature extremes in much of Asia. Confidence in observed trends in daily
temperature extremes in Africa and South America generally varies from low to medium depending on the region. In
many (but not all) regions over the globe with sufficient data, there is medium confidence that the length or number
of warm spells or heat waves3 has increased. [3.3.1, Table 3-2]
There have been statistically significant trends in the number of heavy precipitation events in some regions. It is likely
that more of these regions have experienced increases than decreases, although there are strong regional and
subregional variations in these trends. [3.3.2]
There is low confidence in any observed long-term (i.e., 40 years or more) increases in tropical cyclone activity (i.e.,
intensity, frequency, duration), after accounting for past changes in observing capabilities. It is likely that there has been
a poleward shift in the main Northern and Southern Hemisphere extratropical storm tracks. There is low confidence in
observed trends in small spatial-scale phenomena such as tornadoes and hail because of data inhomogeneities and
inadequacies in monitoring systems. [3.3.2, 3.3.3, 3.4.4, 3.4.5]
There is medium confidence that some regions of the world have experienced more intense and longer droughts, in
particular in southern Europe and West Africa, but in some regions droughts have become less frequent, less intense,
or shorter, for example, in central North America and northwestern Australia. [3.5.1]
There is limited to medium evidence available to assess climate-driven observed changes in the magnitude and
frequency of floods at regional scales because the available instrumental records of floods at gauge stations are
limited in space and time, and because of confounding effects of changes in land use and engineering. Furthermore,
there is low agreement in this evidence, and thus overall low confidence at the global scale regarding even the sign of
these changes. [3.5.2]
____________
3 See SREX Glossary for definition of these terms: cold days / cold nights, warm days / warm nights, and warm spell – heat wave.
7
Summary for Policymakers
It is likely that there has been an increase in extreme coastal high water related to increases in mean sea level.
[3.5.3]
There is evidence that some extremes have changed as a result of anthropogenic influences, including
increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. It is likely that anthropogenic influences have led
to warming of extreme daily minimum and maximum temperatures at the global scale. There is medium confidence
that anthropogenic influences have contributed to intensification of extreme precipitation at the global scale. It is
likely that there has been an anthropogenic influence on increasing extreme coastal high water due to an increase in
mean sea level. The uncertainties in the historical tropical cyclone records, the incomplete understanding of the physical
mechanisms linking tropical cyclone metrics to climate change, and the degree of tropical cyclone variability provide
only low confidence for the attribution of any detectable changes in tropical cyclone activity to anthropogenic
influences. Attribution of single extreme events to anthropogenic climate change is challenging. [3.2.2, 3.3.1, 3.3.2,
3.4.4, 3.5.3, Table 3-1]
Disaster Losses
Economic losses from weather- and climate-related disasters have increased, but with large spa
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