Summary

In light of the historic Paris Agreement to combat climate change and unleash actions and investment towards a low carbon, resilient and sustainable future agreed by 195 countries in Paris on 12 December 2015, Supplement 24 to ITU-T L-series Recommendations aims to offer a better understanding of climate change effects that could assist in the development of recommendations related to adaptation. The Paris Agreement for the first time brings all nations into a common cause based on their historic, current and future responsibilities. The universal Paris Agreement's main aim is to keep a global temperature rise this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit temperature increases even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Additionally, the Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the ability to deal with the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement and the outcomes of the UN climate conference (COP21) cover all of the crucial areas identified as essential for a landmark conclusion:

•            Mitigation – reducing emissions fast enough to achieve the temperature goal

•            A transparency system and global stock-take – accounting for climate action

•            Adaptation – strengthening the ability of countries to deal with climate impacts

•            Loss and damage – strengthening ability of countries to recover from climate impacts

•            Support – including finance, for countries to build clean, resilient futures

Countries will submit updated climate plans, called nationally determined contributions (NDCs), every five years, thereby steadily increasing their ambition in the long-term. Climate action will also be taken forward in the period before 2020. Countries will continue to engage in a process on mitigation opportunities and will put added focus on adaptation opportunities.

This Supplement includes information on identifying and describing climate change effects that can affect the information and communication technology (ICT) sector and other sectors. It also provides a general introduction to the identified climate change effects and describes possible impacts of climate change effects on the ICT sector, human behaviours, human health and the energy sector.

This Supplement could also be used as a reference for other relevant recommendations.