COP26; The climate crisis is here: what it looks like in numbers
Emergency conditions associated with global warming and more extreme weather events hit countries already experiencing conflict and crisis the hardest.
“While the existential threat posed by global warming jeopardizes us all, it is spread unevenly,” says David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). “Swathes of the global population are essentially left defenseless against a problem they did not cause.”
Across Africa’s Lake Chad Basin
1 in 4 people lack enough food because of increasing drought in a region (comprising parts of Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan) that is warming at 1.5 times the global rate. This climate crisis is also increasing the threat of violent conflict.
In Ethiopia
11 million people are already facing crisis levels of hunger as conflict rages in the Tigray region. The country has already endured the devastating 2012 famine in the Horn of Africa (the peninsula that includes Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Somalia) and an unprecedented locust outbreak last year.
Across the Horn of Africa
Multiple seasons of drought plus ongoing conflict in parts of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan will likely result in extreme hunger in the coming months—similar to the drought of 2016.
3.5 million people in Somalia are facing hunger due to a lack of harvest, and farmers who depend on livestock are seeing animals dying from thirst.
2.1 million people in Kenya—including refugees from neighboring countries—will soon face extreme hunger as poor rainfall results in low crop production.
In Sudan, hunger needs are up to 60% higher than the last five-year average as inflation and the economic and current political crisis in the capital leaves most households unable to afford as much food as before.
Worldwide
41 million people are already on the brink of famine, and that number is set to increase with higher temperatures, desertification and extreme weather events.
200 million people are in need of international humanitarian assistance each year, in part because of the impacts of climate change.
Two-thirds of those living in poverty work in agriculture, their livelihoods particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns.
200 million people could be displaced inside their own countries by climate change by 2050 if nothing is done, says the World Bank.
60% of the 20 countries identified as the most vulnerable to climate change are affected by armed conflict, making it harder for them to mitigate the impacts of a warming planet.
What can be done
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is calling on world leaders meeting at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland this month not only to make bold plans to radically reduce global emissions, but also make urgent investments to prevent famine and help vulnerable communities become more resilient in the face of climate change.
Current funding has fallen far short of needs in countries that are also grappling with humanitarian crises and the compounded economic impact of COVID-19.
“It is way past time for global leaders to step up,” says David Miliband. “The climate crisis is here—and united global leadership is needed to meet it.
“The tests are two-fold: stepping up to prevent the catastrophic breach of the 1.5 degrees average rise in temperature and stepping up to help the most at-risk communities adapt to the climate change that is already happening.”
Sufficient international funding is urgently needed for preparedness and response to famine and food crises, including early warning mechanisms and support to livelihoods before the onset of a crisis.
There’s a compelling case for this investment: One 15-year USAID study in the Horn of Africa region revealed that every $1 spent on resilience programs offset three times as much in aid costs later.
The IRC’s climate crisis response
The IRC is at the forefront of these necessary efforts in over 20 countries. For example, in Afghanistan, we introduced community-led programs to help farmers adapt their crops for a changing climate and sustain their livelihoods.
In northeast Nigeria, we partnered with Google to develop a climate risk data platform that triggers cash payments to the most vulnerable when crisis conditions are indicated. In the Central African Republic, we are working with farmers to plant thousands of trees and diversify their crops, reversing land degradation. This climate-smart approach has helped impoverished farmers in some locations to increase their income by as much as 1000%.
