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Here are the sub-themes that will be incorporated into the students' " Plan of Action":
- Global Climate Change and Equality
- Global Climate Change and the Right to Life
- Global Climate Change and Slavery
- Global Climate Change and Economic and Social Rights
- Global Climate Change and the Right to Education
- Global Climate Change and Cultural Rights
The "blanket" of greenhouse gases that occurs naturally in the troposphere — representing less than one percent of the entire atmosphere — serves the vital function of regulating the planet’s climate. When solar energy in the form of visible light strikes the Earth, it warms the surface. Being much cooler than the sun, the Earth emits this energy back out to space in the form of infrared, or thermal, radiation. Greenhouse gases block the infrared radiation from escaping directly into space. The resulting "natural greenhouse effect" keeps the planet about 30°C (54°F) warmer than it would be otherwise. This is essential for life as we know it.
The problem we now face is that since the start of the industrial revolution some 250 years ago the emission of greenhouse gases generated by human activity have been making this blanket thicker at an unprecedented speed. This has caused the most dramatic change in the atmosphere’s composition in at least 650,000 years. Unless we make significant efforts to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, the global climate will continue to warm rapidly over the coming decades and beyond.
The emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as a result of human activity has been going on for over 500,000 years. However, the dramatic changes we are witnessing today can be traced back to two great transformations in energy use. The first occurred when water power was replaced by coal in the early 19th century. Coal fuelled the industrial revolution which led to unprecedented increases in economic productivity. The second great transformation happened in the early 20th century when oil was used to fuel the internal combustion engine that sparked a revolution in transport. The burning of coal and oil supplemented by natural gas have transformed human society and generated great wealth but not everyone has benefited equally from the industrial revolution. The richest countries of the world which have gained the most from the Industrial Revolution account for only 15% of the world’s population yet they have contributed almost half of all CO2 emissions that have been released through human activity.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has referred to climate change as “the moral challenge of our generation.”2
Spectacular advances in human development have been made since the first Human Development report was published in 1990. Both the number of people living on less than $1 a day and the child mortality rates have fallen. At the same time, life expectancy has increased and the number of children completing primary school has increased. Global warming, however, has the potential of undoing all of the progress that has been made. It is a direct threat to our efforts to eradicate extreme poverty around the world.
Scientists have confirmed that climate change is having an impact on precipitation patterns, distribution of water resources, and biodiversity. As the Earth’s average temperature increases, the potential for damage to the Earth’s ecosystems also grows. Some scientists contend that a 2ºC rise over preindustrial temperatures would push the Earth past a “tipping point” -- the point at which rapid reversals in human development and the potential for irreversible damage to the environment would become difficult to avoid. Crossing this threshold would cause accelerated melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets which would lead in turn to sea levels rising by several meters. Large numbers of people would have to resettle somewhere else. Large areas of the rainforest could be transformed into savannah. Coral reefs systems would decline leading to extensive losses in biodiversity. Moreover, the warming of oceans, loss of rainforests and melting ice sheets would accelerate the pace of climate change. Each of these changes will impact the social and economic well-being of people around the world. However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that even the most stringent measures would not prevent average global temperatures from rising 2-2.4ºC over preindustrial levels.
The reason why greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity are such a problem is that, in the long term, the Earth must get rid of energy at the same rate at which it receives energy from the sun. Since a thicker blanket of greenhouse gases helps to reduce energy loss to space, the climate system must adjust somehow to restore the balance between incoming and outgoing energy. The result is known as the "enhanced greenhouse effect". One way the earth attempts to restore balance is by absorbing by the earth’s soil, vegetation and oceans referred to as carbon sinks. The Earth’s natural capacity to remove greenhouse gases without sustaining damage to ecological systems is between 1 and 5 Gt CO2e. Currently, emissions total roughly 50 CO2e overloading the Earth’s capacity by a factor of between 10 and 50. This is causing serious ecological damage. Oceans are becoming warmer and increasingly acidic. As this happens, calcium carbonate, one of the basic building blocks of coral and small organisms starts to dissolve. Based on current trends, increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases could produce chemical conditions in the oceans that have not been witnessed in the past 300 million years. As global warming increases, the Earth’s capacity to absorb greenhouse gases shrinks which further accelerates the pace of climate change.
If everyone in the developing world had the same carbon footprint as those living in high income countries, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) calculated that it would take 6 planets to absorb the greenhouse gases that would be produced. If the per capita carbon footprint was the same as those living in the United States and Canada, it would take 9 planets to absorb the greenhouse gases that would be produced.
Developing countries would be most vulnerable to the risks posed by global warming. They are located in tropical areas that are likely to experience some of the most severe changes from climate change and are more dependent on agriculture which risks being hit with large losses in productivity due to drought and rainfall variation. In addition, developing countries have high levels of poverty, malnutrition and infectious diseases which will only worsen as a result of climate change.
Climate disasters are heavily concentrated in poor countries. Some 262 million people were affected by climate disasters annually from 2000 to 2004, over 98% of them in developing countries.3 Put another way, on average, one in 19 people living in the developing world was affected by a climate disaster annually from 2000 to 2004 versus one in 1,500 in the richest countries.
In order to understand the different ways climate change impacts groups of people around the world, it is important to understand the difference between risk and vulnerability. People living in the Ganges Delta located in Bangladesh and India face the same risks from flooding due to rising sea levels as people who live in lower Manhattan but they do not share the same vulnerabilities. Vulnerability measures the capacity to respond to natural disasters -- such as flooding from rising sea levels (caused, for example, by hurricanes or cyclones) or earthquakes -- without suffering long-term loss of well-being. People living in poverty are more vulnerable because they have fewer resources to help them deal with the risks that result from climate change. When hurricanes hit Florida, where many of the world’s prime real estate is located, properties are protected by high levels of insurance. When cyclones hit slums in Haiti, the market value of properties is lower and the real estate of the poor is largely uninsured. Poor countries and their citizens pay the highest price for climate change.
Roughly 2.6 billion live on less than $2 a day. The poor are vulnerable because they lack resources to manage risks that result from climate change. When climate disasters occur, the poor are forced to sell a far greater share of their assets in order to cope than wealthier households. When hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in 1998, the poorest Hondurans lost about one-third of the value of their assets, compared to a loss of only 7.5% for the wealthiest people living in Honduras. Climate change will intensify existing vulnerabilities (e.g., among small-scale farmers, urban slum dwellers, and people living in low-lying coastal areas) and inequalities.
Over the last century, the average global temperature has increased by about 0.74ºC with most of the warming occurring in the last 50 years. Over the next 20 years, the average temperature is projected to rise 0.2ºC every decade. The world faces an average temperature rise of 3 ºC this century if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace. With this rise in temperature many changes are happening. Local patterns of rainfall are changing, ecological zones are shifting, seas are warming and ice caps are melting. This is creating conditions for even more extreme weather to occur in the future. Tropical storms, for example, have increased in intensity because the oceans are getting warmer as a result of climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been studying different scenarios to predict what will happen if emissions continue to rise at various levels. There are many factors that must be taken into consideration, for example, the rate of economic growth, the rate of population growth, technological change, the rate at which greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere. One of the IPCC scenarios which assumes lower economic growth but continued high population growth predicts that a “tipping point” could be crossed as early as 2050.
Prior to the industrial era, concentrations of greenhouse gases were 278 parts per million (ppm). Current concentrations have reached 380 ppm of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) which is higher than the natural range of greenhouse gas concentration levels for the last 650,000 years. Moreover, concentrations continue to rise sharply, increasing by roughly 1.9 ppm each year. This may not seem like much until you consider that during a period of 8,000 years prior to the industrial era, atmospheric concentrations increased by only 20 ppm. If current trends continue, the concentrations of greenhouse gases will increase to 4-5 ppm a year causing accumulated stocks of these gases to reach 550 ppm by 2035. At that level there is an 80% chance that the 2ºC threshold will be crossed.
If this happens, people’s lives will change dramatically. Here are some of the ways:
- The distribution of the world’s water resources would change significantly. The accelerated pace at which glaciers would melt will initially cause increased flooding followed by a reduction in the flow of water to major river systems that are used for irrigation. In Latin America, accelerated melting will threaten water supplies used by people in cities, agriculture and hydroelectricity. An additional 1.8 billion people could be faced with water shortages;
- There would be large decreases in agricultural productivity. Three-quarters of the those living in extreme poverty (defined in terms of living on less than $US1 day) depend on agriculture to survive. An additional 600 million people could face acute malnutrition by the 2080s;
- The rise in sea levels would accelerate and tropical storms would get more intense causing widespread displacement. The number of people experiencing coastal flooding could increase by 180-230 million;
- Large losses in biodiversity would be expected. This would affect hundreds of million of people dependent on fish for livelihoods and nutrition;
- Exposure to malaria would increase. An additional 220-400 million people would be at increased risk of getting this disease.
In the best case scenario, the average global emissions will need to peak in about 15 years and then start to decrease leading to a 2-2.4ºC rise in temperature. In the worst case scenario, the average global emissions would peak sometime between 2050-2080 causing the average global temperature to rise between 4-4.9ºC above preindustrial levels.
In order to avoid a catastrophic decline in human development two types of responses are needed: adaptation and mitigation.
Adaptation is required to respond to the consequences of global warming. Governments and people around the world are already adapting to climate change. Due to the long period in which greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere, we will have to live with climate change for some time to come. Given the time-lag between actions we take today to reduce emissions and the impact they may have on global warming later this century, the world, particularly the world’s poor, will have no choice but to continue adapting for the next few decades under the best case scenario. Planning for adaptation is a fast-growing industry in developed countries. Many have conducted detailed studies on the impact of climate change. Public investments today are seen as an insurance against future costs. In the United Kingdom, government agencies estimate that every US$1 spent on flood defences saves around US$5 in flood damage. While rich countries prepare to adapt, the poorest countries, marked by widespread poverty, face the greatest challenges. While people in developed countries are being protected from against the threats posed by climate change through public investments, in the poorest countries adaptation is largely a matter of self-help. Millions of people with barely enough for food, clothing and shelter are being forced to give their time, energy and money to adaptation. Here are some examples:
- In northern Kenya, women are walking greater distances to collect water as a result of the increased frequency of droughts. This keeps young girls out of school and imposes a great physical burden on them;
- Communities in Viet Nam are strengthening age-old systems of dykes to protect themselves against more powerful sea surges;
- Communities in flood-prone areas of Nepal are building watchtowers that will provide an early warning system and strengthening embankments to prevent glacial lakes from bursting due to the accelerated melting of glaciers; and,
- In Maharashtra, India, farmers who have to cope with the increasing frequency of droughts are investing in small-scale facilities to collect and conserve rainwater.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) calls for international cooperation to prepare for the impact of climate change. This treaty requires rich countries to support developing countries that are vulnerable to the damaging effects of climate change. Unfortunately, many wealthy countries have not honoured this commitment. The world is increasingly divided between countries that are developing a capacity to adapt and those that are not.
At the same time that we are developing strategies to adapt, we must also concentrate on mitigating the impact of climate change. Mitigation addresses the root causes of the problem and will require fundamental changes in energy policy. Without reform, the world will not be able to prevent global warming from reaching dangerous levels.
Mitigation involves taking action to reduce the effects of climate change. The ultimate goal of these activities is to restore the natural balance between the amount of greenhouse gases that is emitted in to the atmosphere and how much of it can be absorbed by the Earth. The more we delay action, the more atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will rise and the more difficult it will be to stabilize them. Some scientists recommend that we try to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases at 450 ppm. This would result in a rise in the average global temperature that is expected to be close to 3ºC. Achieving this target will require radical shifts in energy policy that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Every year of delay in cutting emissions adds to the stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that locks the future into higher temperatures. One half of every ton of CO2 remains in the atmosphere for a very long time -- from several centuries to several thousand years. Traces of CO2 released from the first coal-powered steam engine in the early 18th century are still in the atmosphere as are traces of the first coal-fired power station designed by Thomas Edison in 1882. People who will be alive at the start of the 22nd century will have to deal with the consequences of our emissions just as we are living with the consequences of emissions since the industrial revolution. This means that whatever we do today to stabilize emissions will not affect average temperatures until the mid-2030s at the earliest.
In order to reach the goal of stabilizing greenhouse concentrations of 450 ppm CO2e, amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere should not go above 14.5 Gt CO2. The current level is double that amount or 29 Gt CO2. As noted above, stabilization of greenhouse gases requires a balance between the amount that is put into the atmosphere and the Earth’s ability to absorb them.
To achieve this goal, there are three things that are needed in order to successfully stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases. First, consumers and investors need to shift demand to low-carbon energy sources. Governments have a key role to play in encouraging the transition to a low-carbon economy. They can set standards, provide information to the public and business sectors, and support research and development. Second, rich countries need to take the lead by making the deepest and earliest cuts. They must cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 30% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050. Third, there needs to a price associated with carbon emission either in the form of carbon taxation or carbon trading.
The United Nations has played a pivotal role in building the scientific consensus on climate change, raising the issue in front pages of the world’s media, and getting Heads of State and Government to take action.
In 1988, at a time when the best research available was beginning to indicate the possible severity of the problem, two UN bodies – UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) – came together to establish the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to assemble what was known about climate change and to point the way forward.
One hundred ninety-two (192) nations have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty to address the challenges posed by climate change. This Convention was a major accomplishment because it acknowledged that there is a problem. Its ultimate objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system.” The Convention places the heaviest burden of fighting climate change on industrialized nations, since they are the source of most past and current greenhouse gas emissions. These countries, as well as 12 “economies in transition” (countries in Central and Eastern Europe) were expected to returning to 1990 emissions levels by the year 2000. In addition, industrialized nations agreed to support climate change activities in developing countries by providing financial support and by sharing technology with the less advanced nations. Because economic development is important to the world’s poorest countries, and such progress is difficult to achieve without increasing their emissions of greenhouse gases, the Convention accepts that greenhouse emissions produced by developing nations will increase in the coming years but it nonetheless seeks to help such countries limit emissions in ways that will not hinder their economic progress.
The Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement linked to the UNFCCC, was adopted on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. A total of 174 countries have ratified the Protocol. It has the same ultimate objective as the UNFCCC. However, the Protocol differs from the Convention in that while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to control their greenhouse gas emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so. The Kyoto Protocol sets binding targets for 37 industrialized nations and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. is the only industrialized country to reject the Kyoto Protocol. Under the Protocol, developed countries are committed to reducing their combined greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5% below 1990 levels by 2012.
A new international climate change deal must be put in place in time to ensure that necessary action is undertaken immediately after 2012 when the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends. In preparation for a new round of negotiations, more than 10,000 participants, including representatives of over 180 countries together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations met in Bali, Indonesia to chart a new negotiating process to tackle climate change with the aim of completing this process in 2009 at the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen. The primary objective of this conference will be to establish more stringent emission reduction commitments from industrialized countries that go beyond what was agreed to under the Kyoto Protocol.
The United Nations provides the only forum through the UNFCCC in which agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions beyond 2012 can realistically be brokered among 192 Member States with different outlooks and economies but a common atmosphere.
Things to think about: Scientists are recommending that in order to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases, industrialized countries need to reduce their emissions by 30% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050 from what they were in 1990. Getting 37 industrialized countries (not including the United States) to agree to 5% reductions in greenhouse gases from what they were in 1990 was a difficult process. What do you think needs to be done to get them to agree to even greater reductions in the next round of negotiations?
On 10 December 2009 we will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR was a landmark achievement in world history. It marked the first time that:
- the rights and freedoms of individuals were set forth in such detail; and,
- the international community recognized that human rights and fundamental freedoms are applicable to every person, everywhere.
The drafters of the UDHR were responding to a human tragedy that had already happened. Climate change is different. It is a human tragedy in the making. Failure to act now would violate the human rights of poor people and those of future generations. As a well-known Native American proverb states, “We do not inherit the Earth from our parents. We borrow it from our children.”
The 2008 Student Conference on Human Rights will explore the following six sub-themes that highlight the special vulnerability of the poor and future generations:
- climate change and the right to equality
- climate change and the right to life
- climate change and freedom from slavery
- climate change and economic and social rights
- climate change and education
- climate change and cultural rights
While studying these six themes, note as many concrete examples of situations in which these rights are violated. Some examples have already been included in the description of each theme. See how many more you can find in the resources available online.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
(Article 1 – UDHR)
Everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation.
(Article 2 – UDHR)
Street vendors selling bananas In Madras, India.© UN Photo/John Isaac
Articles 1 and 2 express the general principles of human rights. The principle of nondiscrimination stated in Article 2 applies to all other human rights. It affirms the value of diversity and the necessity for equality in order to live peacefully together. The principle embodied in Article 2 was preceded by the UN Charter which proclaims “the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small…”
Climate change presents a direct challenge to the inequality that allows the wealthy countries that have contributed the most greenhouse gas emissions to continue unchecked while poor countries -- who have historically contributed less -- bear a larger share of the burden resulting from the effects of climate change. As noted above, poor people living in developing countries have a weak social insurance net and limited infrastructure to adapt to the effects of climate change in comparison to those living in wealthy countries. Small farmers, for example, who will have to cope with losses from intense storms and floods, are less able to adapt to adversity than wealthy households who are able to draw on private insurance, savings or sell some assets if necessary. Increases in the length and frequency of droughts or the increase in flooding that is expected to occur as a result of climate change will intensify the burden shared by those who are among the most vulnerable (e.g., among small-scale farmers, urban slum dwellers, people living in low-lying coastal areas). In addition, it will increase the disparities between men and women.
Here are some examples of gender disparities that are expected to be impacted by climate change:
- Rural women in developing countries are the primary producers of food for their families. They also have the added responsibility of fetching water. They will be the ones most affected by drought. In many countries, climate change will force women and girls to walk further to find water;
- In the aftermath of a disaster, if a man who was the head of a household dies, restrictions on the legal rights of women can limit his wife’s access to credit needed for recovery;4
- Floods frequently claim more women than men because their mobility is restricted and they are often not taught how to swim. When Bangladesh was hit by a cyclone in 1991, the death rate for women was five time higher than it was for men; and,
- Girls living in India suffered the most when food prices rose due to food shortages and the death rate for girls was higher when rainfall shortages occurred in India as well.
Given that our actions today will impact the lives of future generations, climate change is also about respect for their human rights as well. A single climate shock can create cycles of disadvantage that are transmitted across generations. Climate change, therefore, can be viewed as an equity issue that cuts across generations.
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Aerial view of cyclone "Nargis" damage in Irrawaddy Delta Region.
© UN Photo/Evan Schneider
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security.
(Article 3 – UDHR)
Article 3 overlaps with article 25 dealing with economic and social rights as well as the notion of personal security that is further elaborated in articles 4, 5 and 9 dealing with slavery, torture and arbitrary arrest.
The right to life is directly threatened by climate change which is creating conditions for more extreme weather patterns to occur. These extreme weather events involving hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, floods and heat waves are expected to be more numerous and will result in more deaths. In Ethiopia, for example, an epidemic of cholera following extreme floods in 2006 led to widespread loss of life and illness. The right to life is also being threatened by the migration of species that cause diseases like malaria and dengue fever that are expected to spread to new areas where these diseases were previously unknown leading inevitably to an increase in the number of people who die from these diseases.
The warming climate in cold regions can also result in the loss of life. Inuit hunters, for example, are falling through the ice to their death more frequently as a result of thinner ice.
The notion of liberty is also fundamental to understanding the impact that climate change is having on people’s lives. At the time the UDHR was drafted, the representative from Lebanon, Mr. Azkoul, pointed out that from the Age of Enlightenment in 18th century until now,
the theoretical idea of liberty had evolved into the guarantee of certain rights and, in particular, of social rights. In modern times,
the fundamental right was the right of the individual fully to develop his personality, which implied the right to all the factors
essential to that development.5
All development is ultimately about expanding human potential and human freedoms. What people often fail to realize is that development is about having the opportunity and freedom to develop our abilities to their fullest extent. Development cannot occur without the freedom from misery, hunger, illiteracy and disease. Having a decent standard of living gives us the means to pursue our desires and dreams. Human rights come into play when we acknowledge that everyone should have the same opportunities to develop their abilities to fullest extent.
Today over a billion people live in extreme poverty which commonly defined as living on less than $1 a day. In 2000 the largest gathering of world leaders came to the UN to pledge their support to significantly reduce extreme poverty by 2015. Spectacular advances in human development have been made. Both the number of people living on less than $1 a day and the child mortality rates has fallen. At the same time, life expectancy has increased and the number of children completing primary school has increased. Global warming, however, has the potential of undoing all of the progress that has been made. It is a direct threat to our efforts to eradicate extreme poverty around the world.
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No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.
(Article 4 – UDHR)
Freedom from slavery was one of the first human rights to become a subject of international law. Anti-slavery standards have been regulated by international instruments long before the establishment of either the League of Nations or the United Nations. Yet, despite universal condemnation, slavery-like practices remain a grave and persistent problem. Natural climate-related disasters are exploited by human traffickers. They are often the first ones to arrive on the scene and pick up children and young women who are lost during the first 72 hours. As extreme climate events become more numerous, the possibility that children could become victims of human trafficking is likely to increase.
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Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(Article 25 – UDHR)
Aerial view of the Grey Lake Glacier during a visit by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to see first-hand the effects of climate change on melting glaciers.
© UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Among the four freedoms put forth by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, the “freedom from want” was considered the most innovative. Discussion of ‘natural rights’ in the 18th century and ‘civil rights’ in the 19th century did not include any concern with meeting basic needs such as food, clothing, housing and medical care. These needs are the building blocks of human development and the main focus of Article 25.
Global warming poses a threat to these rights on several fronts. Long term impact of climate change will increase food insecurity and the number who are malnourished. Climate change has already begun to interfere with subsistence hunting and farming. And increased acidity in oceans will further reduce fish stock that millions of people depend upon for food and income. The collapse of other ecosystems will lead to further loss of livelihoods and malnutrition.
The loss of biodiversity is having a significant impact on indigenous peoples. Warmer weather in the northern region is leading to a loss of traditional food sources that indigenous groups in the northern region have relied on for many generations. For example, on St. Paul Island in Alaska, the warmer weather has reduced subsistence hunting opportunities because certain species have left the island. Climate-related observations from the Aleutian Islands have noted the presence of non-indigenous warm-water fish species which compete for resources that traditional species and marine mammals need for their survival.
Rising sea levels will increase the number who will be displaced from their homes. As noted above, more extreme weather will also result in extensive damage to property that will force poor people to sell their assets and when that is not enough to cope in other ways by cutting meals, reducing what they spend on health and taking children out of school. The poor are less able to recover from natural disasters than those that are wealthy. After the Bangladesh flood in 1998, the poorest households were forced to cope in ways that led to long-term losses in nutrition and health. Drought in Zimbabwe during 1982-84 resulted in loss of education that translated into a 14% loss of lifetime earnings.
Extreme weather events will also lead to an increase in illnesses. In Central Mexico, for example, the probability of that someone would become ill increased by 16% after a drought and 41% after a flood. Public health systems in poor countries will likely be overwhelmed with the increased demand for health care following extreme weather events. The poor face a double threat from climate change: a higher risk of becoming ill and fewer resources for medical treatment.
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These Bolivian youths earn a meager living by fishing the shores of Lake Titicaca.
© UN Photo/Jean Pierre Laffont
Everyone has the right to education.
(Article 26 – UDHR)
Education is one of the most important aspects of development. However, the economic stress climate change poses to poor families will intensify pressure to send children to work instead of school. After Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the percentage of children in Nicaragua who were forced to work rather than go to school increased from 7.5 to 15.6%. The consequences of not going to school can last a lifetime as was noted in the case of Zimbabwe’s drought in the 1980’s.
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Two Inuit men test thickness of the ice in the Canadian Arctic.
© Environment Canada
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community.
(Article 27 – UDHR)
Climate change is having a harmful impact on properties protected under the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage which was adopted by UNESCO in 1972. This Convention was adopted to safeguard the cultural and natural heritage considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. These sites belong to all the peoples of the world regardless of the territory on which they are located.
Climate change will force some plant and animal species to migrate because they are unable to adapt to their changing environment or because the ecosystem on which they depend will have collapsed. This poses a problem for the conservation of biodiversity hot spots listed as natural World Heritage sites. Archaeological artifacts buried in the ground could be lost rapidly as a result of increased floods, changes in precipitation or permafrost melting. And some properties listed as important cultural heritage sites located in coastal lowlands could be threatened by rising sea levels and coastal erosion.
The loss of natural resources as a result of climate change may interfere with the transmission of culture passed down from one generation to the other. This is particularly true in indigenous communities. In the words of one Inuk man from the Arctic region, “The learning curve for [young people] is getting shorter. The less time they spend out hunting, the less they learn. Because you need to learn about the weather, the currents, the sea and the ice…If they’re not out there hunting, and the ice is not there, then they’re not learning what they need to learn…”
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