Climate Change Could Push 100 Million Into Poverty

Released just weeks before the United Nations climate talks in Paris, the report calls for “rapid, inclusive and climate-smart development together with emissions-reductions efforts” in order to protect the poor from climate risks.

The World Bank’s claim earlier this week that climate change could push more than 100 million people into poverty demonstrated the need for a “complete commitment to succeed” at the summit, the minister added.

China, the world’s top polluter, will work with all parties to reach a balanced agreement at the Paris climate change conference later this month which will be a milestone in global climate governance, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said today.

Entitled “Shock Waves: Managing The Impacts Of Climate Change On Poverty”, the report suggests various measures to protect poorer nations from effects of global warming.

Climate change and global warming are and will continue to be a “significant obstacle” to efforts to eradicate poverty, the report says, citing climate-related impacts on people including drought, flooding, failed crops and rising food prices. Climate change could cause global crop losses of as much as 5 percent by 2030 and 30 percent by 2080. Only a third of sub-Saharan Africans have access to financial services, while less than 10 percent of the poor in low-income countries are covered by social safety nets.

Sea level rises corresponding to these 2 degrees Celsius or 4 degrees Celsius scenarios could unfold in 200 years, but would more likely happen over many centuries, perhaps as long as 2,000 years, according to the research, published by Climate Central.

“Climate adaptation must therefore be a cornerstone of a successful deal in Paris to help the poor and vulnerable communities and countries adapt and cope with the now unavoidable impacts”. Poor people are also more exposed to higher temperatures and live in countries where food production is expected to decrease because of climate change.

Nevertheless, this report and many others over the years have pointed out that unless the climate change and its effects on poverty are managed properly it will be close to impossible to eradicate either of these issues.

The report aims to not only raise awareness to the potential dramatic increase in poverty increase – with India alone set to see an additional 45 million people pushed back below the poverty line by 2030 if actions are not taken immediately – but to pave a way around such a disaster. The goal is to finalize a global plan to reduce carbon emissions and slow climate change.

Fabius said senior officials from 70 countries gathered in Paris agreed on the principle of a mechanism to reassess the countries’ emission pledges every five years in order to improve them.