The Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report presents the current state of knowledge on climate impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Compared to the Fourth Assessment Report in 2007, “AR5” has a much stronger focus on risks. It presents a cold, realistic assessment of how risks are already changing and are bound to keep rising, and will affect especially the most vulnerable groups. But now we know much better what we can do to manage these rising risks.

The case studies here highlight the work of Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies around the world, illustrating a key IPCC finding that we can build on many of the tools and approaches developed for managing climate variability and extremes, but need go beyond “business as usual” to address rising risks.