Over 100-Million People to Face Poverty by 2030, Warns World Bank

Christiana Figueres, head of the United Nation’s Climate Change Secretariat told the news conference that the ministers maintained that it was entirely possible to reach an agreement despite the complexities and challenges.

But more ambitious plans to reduce climate-changing emissions – aimed at keeping global temperature rise within an internationally agreed limit of 2 degrees Celsius – must also cushion poor people from any negative repercussions, it added.

At the same time, the report says an all-out push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is needed to remove the long-term threat that climate change poses for poverty reduction.

But if United Nations talks fail to reach a new deal to slow climate change and it continues at today’s rate, the number of people living on threatened land would jump to 627 million as global temperature rise hits 4 degrees Celsius, said a report issued by climate science research group Climate Central.

“The poor are more vulnerable to climate-related shocks than wealthier people”, said the report, urging “strong action” from the Paris summit.

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 points to agriculture as the key driver of climate change’s influence on poverty, with scientific studies suggesting that rising temperatures could lead to 5 percent of crop yields failing by 2030.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday said enlarging the donor base for financing to mitigate climate change would “not be appropriate” from the perspective of the developing countries. Cases of diarrhea and stunting will also rise, while a global temperature increase of 3.6 degrees or more could put another 150 million people at risk of malaria, per Reuters. Rich nations are supposed to contribute to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) – a multilateral fund to help poor and developing countries fight climate change – but the issue is stuck around the nature of contributions and beneficiaries.

Such mitigation efforts should be created to ensure that they do not burden the poor.

For example, savings from eliminating fossil fuel subsidies could be reinvested in assistance schemes to help poor families cope with higher fuel costs.

In poor countries, support from the global community will be essential to accomplish many of these measures, according to the report.

“Poor people spend a larger share of their budget on food than the rest of the population”, the report notes. “And between now and 2030, good, climate-informed development gives us the best chance we have of warding off increases in poverty due to climate change”.