Nearly 100 million people, most of them in Africa and Asia, will sink into poverty by 2030 due to the effects of climate change.
A World Bank report on climate change warns that human activity, which has impacted negatively on weather patterns, risks sinking many countries into poverty as a direct consequence of drought and floods. The report paints a sorry picture of things: From crop failures due to reduced rainfall; to spikes in food prices after extreme weather; to increased incidence of diseases after heat waves and floods. If for nothing else, at least the dire consequences of the phenomenon should rouse the world to act.
The report came out as the world prepares for the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP21) conference, which will be held in Paris next month to put the final touches to a universal agreement aimed at containing average global temperatures at below 2 degrees Celsius.
There are efforts to tame it through sustainable policies that must be embraced by all stakeholders, more so highly industrialised countries like China and the US. Of concern is that the poorest people more than the average population, are susceptible to the effects of climate change.
It was heartening to hear that among the key issues that Pope Francis will address when he visits the country later this month are the effects of climate change.
Global warming has led to rising sea levels and the resultant hurricanes more evident in Asia, Europe and the Americas. In Africa, climatic changes and erratic weather patterns have affected food production to levels where millions are starving.
The World Bank reckons that ending poverty and fighting climate change are closely entwined. It predicts global crop yield losses of 5 per cent by 2030 and warns this could rise to 30 per cent by 2080. In February, the Ministry of Planning and Devolution released a report that showed 1.6 million Kenyans were facing starvation because of the drought that was ravaging parts of the country then.
According to the World Bank, the poor spend at least 60 per cent of their earnings on food and a little spike in price is a matter of life and death. Because most of them lack medical cover, they will suffer from malaria, diarrhoea and stunted growth. That means the poor are hard-hit by climate change.
The irony of all this climate talk is that it is self-inflicted. In his quest to develop, man has resorted to clearing forests to pave way for buildings, logging and burning charcoal as a means of eking out a living in complete disregard of the effects on the environment. Apart from industrialisation, the growing number of concrete jungles in cities contributes in no small measure to global warming. Add to that the emission from industries and exhaust fumes and you have a cocktail of hazardous material in the environment commonly known as greenhouse gas emissions.
Granted there are those who would want to say that you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs; that the poor world needs to develop to get millions off the poverty pit; and that the industrialised nations owe the rest of the world for what damage the world suffered on its way to industrialisation. That argument, though viable, holds little water.
Instead, they ought to lead by example. Governments, especially in Africa, have been slow to come up with policies that protect the environment against degradation. The ruling elite are busy destroying the environment for more building complexes, wood and trophies. That needs to stop.
It has been proven that the use of wise policy choices will help mitigate against the ravages of climate change. That can be achieved through what the World Bank calls "climate-smart development".