As the world’s eyes continue to be focused on war and peace in Ukraine and elsewhere, states are strategically outmaneuvering each other regarding what is right or wrong for this or that other country, competing with each other economically, with profit and greed the driver, and spreading fake news to distort reality. These are just a few of the ills that seem to cloud people’s eyes and prevent them from truly seeing the scale of the damage done to the planet by global warming and climate change. States and societies everywhere prefer to apply a mere sticking plaster to a deep wound that necessitates complex medical intervention in order to start remedying the damage caused by humanity’s habits and way of life. A look at the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which was published this week, leaves no doubt that the struggle to protect citizens on this planet is in disarray. The report hints at the adaptation measures that need to be planned and adopted everywhere to better cope with what is to come. What is to come, it seems, will constantly look like what the world witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report does not shy away from telling it like it is. It stated that if human-caused global warming is not limited to just another couple tenths of a degree, an Earth now struck regularly by deadly heat, fires, floods and drought will in future decades degrade in 127 ways, with some being “potentially irreversible.” And what that means plainly to us mortals is that global warming has contributed to species decline and even extinctions, it means an increase in the spread of vector-borne diseases, it means more deaths due to heat and drought, and it means reduced yields in staple crops, water scarcity and a decline in fisheries and aquaculture. Further, the overheating of the planet — if left unchecked — will mean that our physical and mental health will be adversely affected. So-called weather “extremes” have already led to “irreversible impacts” in both human society and the natural world and what we have witnessed so far is only the beginning, as the impacts will intensify with every fraction of a degree of warming. At 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, 14 percent of terrestrial species will face an extinction risk. Meanwhile, billions more people will be exposed to dengue fever and a multitude of climate-driven extreme events are likely to significantly increase ill health and premature deaths. The IPCC report urges states and societies to start preparing in order to adapt as the overheating of our planet is outpacing our preparations. Whether our efforts are focused on reducing food waste, promoting sustainable farming, restoring natural habitats, saving mangrove forests or building rivers and sea dams, planting urban green corridors or fitting air conditioners, the search to live with this new reality increases in its urgency all the time. The report alludes to the fact that getting such changes wrong would be dangerous because the margin of error is so slim. Any efforts to shield a region from extreme flooding now might expose a neighboring region to the wrath of nature. Building tower blocks to house poor people in certain places could make stormy winds more damaging to low-rise housing nearby, and so on. In my view, this latest report takes a sober look at things as they stand and, though this makes it a daunting read, every word points to the common problems faced by today’s world: The lack of accountability, the cozying up of states to mostly greedy corporations, and the “abdication of leadership” that favors short-term wins. These are the key reasons for our failure to deal with climate change and other adversities. As I write these lines, a leading country did not think twice about invading another, whereas if such a country were to be asked to reform, recycle and protect the environment to protect its citizens’ future, its leaders would use every trick in the book to prove elusive. It would likely refuse to commit, evoking strategic positioning versus its enemies, defense of national interests and many other excuses, from doubting the science to apportioning the blame on bygone eras, when countries paid little attention to the scale of the damage the Industrial Revolution might cause the environment. In this regard, such countries might have a point, but in the spirit of today and how best to protect tomorrow, the discussion needs to move forward, toward acting in the name of the common duty to try and save all. The UN report can only raise the flag and state the obvious that the deadly extreme weather we are now regularly seeing is likely to get much worse. It is likely to make the world sicker, hungrier, poorer, gloomier and more dangerous in the next 18 years, with an “unavoidable” increase in risks for all. In 2008 alone, some 20 million people became so-called climate refugees; by 2050, the total is expected to surpass 1 billion. Warnings such as “code red” and “your house is on fire” are simple pleas from the scientists and officials from all over the world who authored the report. They are desperately trying to drive the message home about the existential threat the planet and its people are facing. This is not tomorrow but today and, yes, some might argue that spreading fear will not produce results — but how then should one persuade people that their hope for a better future for their children and their nation needs to experience a dose of realism to persuade them to act and adapt immediately? Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist, media consultant and trainer with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.