Criminally Irresponsible

One impact of climate change that all regions worldwide share is the fact that the poor will suffer first, experience the worst effects, and face the greatest challenges. And the poor have the least power to address the problem.

“Climate change will further reduce access to drinking water, negatively affect the health of poor people, and will pose a real threat to food security in many countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America,” according to Poverty and Climate Change, a report prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and nine other international development agencies.

Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change, puts it more bluntly: “Failing to act would constitute a direct attack on the poorest of the poor, and a nihilistic decision to undo achievements of the Millennium Development Goals. Failing to recognize the urgency of this message and acting on it would be nothing less than criminally irresponsible.”

The nongovernmental organization Oxfam International estimates that adapting to climate change will cost at least $50 billion a year, and far more if global emissions are not cut rapidly.

“Climate change is forcing vulnerable communities in poor countries to adapt to unprecedented climate stress,” says Oxfam. “Rich countries, primarily responsible for creating the problem, must stop harming, by fast cutting their greenhouse gas emissions, and start helping, by providing finance for adaptation.”

According to climate experts, key focus areas in the years to come will be helping poor countries adapt to climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the problem, and working to establish long-term solutions to the problem.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-02