More than 50 million people have been affected by climate change, the Red Cross said. (Representative)
Geneva, Switzerland:
The world should respond with the same urgency to climate change as to the coronavirus crisis, the Red Cross said on Tuesday, warning that global warming poses a greater threat than Covid-19.
Even as the pandemic rages on, climate change continues to wreak havoc, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a new report.
In the report, on global disasters since the 1960s, the Geneva-based organization pointed out that the world had been hit by more than 100 disasters – many of which were climate-related – since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March.
More than 50 million people have been affected, he said.
“Of course, the Covid is there, it is in front of us, it affects our families, our friends, our loved ones,” said the secretary general of the International Federation, Jagan Chapagain, during a virtual press conference.
“This is a very, very serious crisis that the world is facing right now,” he said of the pandemic, which has already claimed more than 1.3 million lives.
But he warned that the IFRC expects “climate change to have a greater medium and long-term impact on human life and on Earth.”
And while it seems increasingly likely that one or more vaccines will soon be available against Covid-19, Mr Chapagain stressed that “unfortunately there is no vaccine against climate change”.
‘No vaccine against climate change’
Regarding global warming, he warned, “it will take much more sustained action and investment to truly protect human life on this Earth.”
The frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate events have already increased dramatically in recent decades, said the IFRC.
In 2019 alone, the world was hit by 308 natural disasters – 77% of which were climate or weather related – killing some 24,400 people.
The number of climatic and meteorological disasters has steadily increased since the 1960s and has increased by nearly 35% since the 1990s, the International Federation said.
It is a deadly evolution.
Weather and climate disasters have killed more than 410,000 people over the past decade, most in poorer countries, with heatwaves and storms proving the deadliest, according to the report.
Faced with this threat, which “literally threatens our long-term survival”, the International Federation called on the international community to act with the required urgency.
‘Protect the most vulnerable communities’
He estimated that around $ 50 billion would be needed each year over the next decade to help the 50 developing countries adapt to climate change.
The International Federation stressed that this amount was “overshadowed by the global response to the economic impact of Covid-19”, which has already exceeded $ 10,000 billion.
He also lamented that much of the money invested so far in preventing and mitigating climate change is not going to the most exposed developing countries.
“Our primary responsibility is to protect the communities most exposed and vulnerable to climate risks,” said Chapagain, warning however that “our research shows that the world collectively fails to do so.”
“There is a clear disconnect between where climate risk is greatest and where climate adaptation finance goes,” he said.
“This disconnection could very well cost lives.”
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
