The Cascading Climate Crisis

• Risk cascades are where an adverse climatic impact or trend triggers or amplifies a set of risks, including through maladaptive responses. • Climate risk cascades have already occurred and are set to increase going into the future. Some of these could be non-linear and high impact. • Risk cascades can occur through a unilinear chain – a ‘domino’ effect—or when the cascades reinforce the initial risk or driver – a ‘spiral’ or ‘cycle effect. At worst, these can snowball into crises that cross sectors and countries. • Predicting risk cascades will be inherently difficult, if not impossible. Yet we can likely understand the different pathways they may take, and the thresholds past which they are likely to occur. • Protecting again risk cascades means faster decarbonisation, supporting the most vulnerable, and building more resilient socio-economic systems. This will require indirect measures, such as remedying inequalities.