Global Climate Change Traps Poorest

Global Climate Change Traps Poorest



November 2007 
 Climate change could have a 
disastrous impact for the world's poorest people and reverse any gains 
made in poverty reduction, nutrition, health and education, warns the 
annual United Nations Human Development Report released today. 
The world's 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 daily have 
contributed least to global emissions. But they are "paying a high price 
for the actions of others," said Claes Johansson of the UN Development 
Programme, UNDP, which prepared the report. 
The potential toll on humans of climate change has been understated, the 
report concludes, pointing to meteorological shocks such as droughts, 
floods and storms, whose intensity and frequency are increasing, adding to 
existing poverty and inequality. 
"For millions of people, these are events that offer a one-way ticket to 
poverty and long-run cycles of disadvantage," the UNDP said. 
The UN agency recommended a "twin track" approach merging mitigation 
efforts to limit global warming this century to under 2°C with bolstered 
global cooperation on adaptation measures. 
On mitigation, the report urged developed countries to slash greenhouse 
gas emissions by at least 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050, and promote 
carbon taxation, more stringent cap-and-trade programmes and energy 
regulation, among others. 
If developed and developing nations are able to cut emissions overall by 
50 percent by 2050, "this gives us a 50-50 chance of avoiding dangerous 
climate change so this is an absolute minimum required reduction in 
emissions," Johanssen declared. 

For rich nations to help poor ones achieve this goal, the report proposes 
a Climate Change Mitigate Facility at a cost of $25 to $50 billion per 
year to finance development of low-carbon energy systems in developing 
nations. 
"Therefore, developed nations have a historic responsibility to cut 
emissions, to climate-proof their growth and to invest in efforts that can 
help prevent catastrophic reversals in human development," said Johansson. 

Developing countries, in turn, must do their part to reduce their own 
emissions, but cannot do so without the help of wealthier nations, 
Johansson observed. 
The report, "Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided 
world," was released as governments prepare for next week's UN Climate 
Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, where delegates are expected to 
negotiate a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding 
pact limiting greenhouse gas emissions that is due to expire in 2012. 
Regarding adaptation, the disparity in ability between rich and poor 
countries to respond to climate change is creating even larger 
inequalities both between and within countries, the report warned. 
The UNDP calls on developed nations to make global warming a main priority 
in their international partnerships to reduce poverty. 
Currently, only $26 million has been spent multilaterally for adaptation 
measures, which the report noted is the equivalent of one week's worth of 
spending on flood defenses in the United Kingdom.    


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