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Yemen Observer
The poor are suffering and will suffer even more with the advance of
climate change because they are at greatest risk of human development
reversals, said the Global Human Development Report 2007/ 2008,
released February 13 at the Movenpick Hotel. The HDR 2007/2008,
entitled Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World,
was launched by the United Nations Development Programme in Yemen in
cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and International
Cooperation.
Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge facing the world
today. Recent events have emphatically demonstrated a growing
vulnerability to this phenomenon. “Confronted with a problem as
daunting as this, resigned pessimism might seem a justified response,”
said Selva Ramachandran, UNDP Yemen Resident Representative at the
launch of the HDR 2007/2008. “However, resigned pessimism is a luxury
that the world’s poor and future generations cannot afford, and there
is an alternative. In short, climate change has become a priority!”
The report provides a stark account of the threat posed by global
warming. It argues that the world is drifting towards a “tipping point”
that could lock the poorest countries and their neediest citizens in a
downward spiral, leaving hundreds of millions facing malnutrition,
water scarcity, ecological threats and a loss of livelihoods.
“Ultimately, climate change is a threat to humanity as a whole. But it
is the poor, a constituency with no responsibility for the ecological
debt we are running up, who face the immediate and most severe human
costs,” said UNDP administrator, Kemal Dervis.
As a result of past emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other
greenhouse gases (GHGs), the world is now on course for future climate
change and has less than a decade to avoid dangerous alterations to the
climate that could bring unprecedented human development reversals. “We
are issuing a call to action, not providing a counsel of despair,” said
lead author, Kevin Watkins. “Working together with resolve, we can win
the battle against climate change. Allowing the window of opportunity
to close would represent a moral and political failure without
precedent in human history.”
If that window is missed, temperature rises above two degrees Celsius
could see an extra 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa go hungry,
new and more frequent epidemics of mosquito-born diseases like Rift
Valley Fever and malaria, and agricultural losses of up to US$29
billion by 2060 in the region, a figure higher than the total bilateral
aid received by sub-Saharan Africa in 2005. The report notes that if
each poor person on the planet had the same energy-rich lifestyle as an
American or Canadian, nine planets would be needed to safely cope with
the pollution. In fact, the US state of Texas, with 23 million
residents, emits more CO2 than all of the 720 million residents of
sub-Saharan Africa put together, according to the report.
Faced with these stark differences, the authors note that critical
global emission cuts should not undermine efforts to get basic energy
services to the poor. The world’s richest countries have a historic
responsibility to take the lead in balancing the carbon budget by
cutting emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050, says the report, in
addition to supporting $86 billion in annual global investment in a
substantial international effort to protect the world’s poor.
Current evidence points to a direct link between climate change and
increased risk of climate disasters like floods and droughts, and the
overwhelming majority of people affected live in developing countries.
The report’s authors note that on average, between 2000 and 2004, one
in 19 people living in the developing world was affected by a climate
disaster each year, compared to one person in 1,500 for OECD countries.
OECD is the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development,
with 25 out of 30 member countries being described as “high-income” by
the World Bank.
Focusing on the 2.6 billion people surviving on less than US$2 a day,
the report authors warn forces unleashed by global warming could stall
and then reverse progress that has been built up over generations. The
breakdown of agricultural systems as a result of increased exposure to
drought, rising temperatures and more erratic rainfall could leave up
to 600 million more people facing malnutrition; an additional 1.8
billion people facing water stress by 2080; displacement through
flooding and tropical storm activity of up to 332 million people in
coastal and low-lying areas; and emerging health risks, with up to an
additional 400 million people facing the risk of malaria.
In some countries, increased frequency of droughts means that women are
walking greater distances to fetch water, often ranging from 10 to 15
kilometers a day, according to the report. Along with posing greater
personal security risks for women, it also keeps young people,
especially girls, out of schools and imposes an immense physical burden
- a plastic container filled with 20 liters of water weighs around 20
kilograms.
The report calls on developed countries to support a new global
investment of at least $86 billion annually, or 0.2 percent of the OECD
countries’ combined gross domestic product (GDP), in adaptation efforts
to climate-proof infrastructure and build the resilience of the poor to
the effects of climate change.
Dr. Abdul-Karim al-Arhabi, Deputy-Prime Minster of Yemen for Economic
Affairs and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation,
confirmed that Yemen has moved forward to achieve good values in the
human development index (HDI) and to improve both regionally and
internationally. “Environment issues receive national and international
attention since they are related to continuing development issues. More
than 100 public and private institutions have been established to
represent Yemen’s attention to the environment,” he said.
The Minister of Water and Environment, Dr. Abdul-Rahman al-Eryani,
warns of climate change and calls upon developed countries to reduce
emissions. He also urges people to save water, protect soil, support
farmers and use the best technological means to reduce emissions. Dr.
al-Eryani predicted that Yemen will be one of the world’s countries
which will be most negatively affected by climate change.
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