Why 5?

Aug 14th, 2009 1:05 PM UTC
By Darren Nowels

When the Senate reconvenes this fall, the chamber is slated to debate a bill that would address America’s greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of climate change. Helping the world’s poorest people take on the negative impacts of climate change is a small part of the US legislation, but will play an important part in fighting global poverty.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that agricultural yields in Africa will be reduced by 50% by 2020 due to shortened growing seasons. Between 75 and 250 million additional Africans could be lacking access to clean water supplies by 2020. This would increase the risk of resource-based conflicts. Diseases such as cholera, malaria, dengue fever, and meningitis will have increased prevalence among populations not yet exposed to these deadly infections. All of these damaging impacts of climate change combine to undermine the progress that has been made in the developing world, and threaten to leave millions more in poverty.

In an attempt to quantify the necessary level of contribution to help the world’s poorest, international organizations and NGOs have put forth a variety of proposals. Projected annual international contributions range from Oxford Institute of Energy Sciences’ $28 billion annually to a UNDP estimate of $86 billion annually. Just this week, the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Yvo De Boer asserted that $100 billion per year would be necessary to sufficiently adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. A US contribution of 5% through its domestic legislation would deliver a strong signal for the global response to help the poorest countries respond to the effects of climate change.

Five percent builds upon last year’s bipartisan Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act which included in it that amount for the world’s poorest. In allocating 5% in this year’s Senate bill, we secure last year’s bipartisan commitment once again towards a sustainable future for the world’s poorest.

To sign ONE’s petition asking the Senate to allocate 5% of any revenue to begin helping the world’s poorest people overcome the threats posed by climate change, please click here.

-Darren Nowels

TAGS: Climate and Development