Around the world, people are experiencing both the delicate and harsh effects of climate change. Gradually rising sea levels and more extreme weather events are all clear and devastating evidence of a rapidly changing climate. The impacts of climate change can be seen in every country on every continent. The increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts threaten food supplies, drive people from their homes, separate families and jeopardize livelihoods. And all of these effects increase the risk of conflict, hunger, and poverty.

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Climate change and poverty:

• 2018 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations estimates that “even a 1.5-degree increase in global temperature could push tens of millions of people into poverty.”
• According to the World Food Programme’s 2018 Global Report on Food Crises, “climate disasters triggered food crises across 23 countries, mostly in Africa, with shocks such as drought leaving more than 39 million people in need of urgent assistance.”
• According to the 2018 Global Report on Internal Displacement, “30.6 million new internal displacements associated with conflict and natural disasters were recorded in 2017 across 143 countries and territories.”
• Climate change hits the poorest people the hardest, those living in vulnerable areas with the fewest resources to help them adapt or recover quickly from shocks.
• Up to 122 million more people worldwide could be living in extreme poverty by 2030 as a result of climate change and its impacts on small-scale farmers’ incomes, a major UN report warned.

Measures needed:

• Climate-proofing’ sustainable development efforts are important. Current efforts should remain relevant in the face of future climate impacts.
• Adaptation programmes ought to be designed so that challenges faced by people living in poverty are recognised and reduced.
• Ex: A district with severe nutritional deficiency along with drought from climate change, then the focus ought to be on improving local food access and managing water efficiently to prepare for future water shortages.
• Similarly, sanitation and housing ought to be improved in future flooding areas and use appropriate design strategies that are resilient to water-logging.
• Improved governance, including an active civil society and open, transparent, and accountable policy and decision making processes.
• Mainstreaming climate issues into all national, sub-national, and sectoral planning processes.
• Empowerment of communities so that they can participate in assessments and feed in their knowledge to provide useful climate-poverty information.
• Vulnerability assessments that fully address the different shades and causes of poverty.
• Access to good quality information about the impacts of climate change. This is key for effective poverty reduction strategies.
• Increasing the resilience of livelihoods and infrastructure as a key component of an effective poverty reduction strategy.
• State of Food and Agriculture report states that without “widespread adoption of sustainable land, water, fisheries and forestry practices, global poverty cannot be eradicated”.
• Carbon pricing, for example, help lower emissions and can create a revenue stream from that can be used to help the poor offset any rise in fuel or energy prices.
• Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies can also help lower emissions and free up government spending for more targeted support for the poor.
• Redistribution of wealth from Richer to poorer nations:
  • Richer countries in the world have responsibility in changing the current approach to disaster aid.
  • In major donor countries such as the US and UK, the guiding modus operandi of disaster relief has been reactive as opposed to proactive measures.
  • Earmarking more resources for disaster prevention and preparedness than on emergency responses such as humanitarian interventions in post disaster situations.
  • Donor countries need to prioritise identifying the most vulnerable people both before and after a disaster, and ensure they receive the required support and are granted the agency to be actively involved in the process.

Conclusion:

Climate change and the resultant disasters are a reality. Nations should prepare to mitigate and deflect the destruction caused by disasters. We need to employ technology, strict following of command structure and most importantly the participation and cooperation of local communities in the affected area.