Global Warming Impacts on the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

8/7/2019 Global Warming Impacts on the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

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Climate Change Impacts on the Achievement ofthe

Millennium Development Goals:Can We Afford Not to Integrate?

September 2010

This paper was written by Mia McDonald with input from the teams at Realizing Rights,GCAP and GCCA.


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1. Introduction

Since the 2000 Millennium Summit and its immediate follow-up, the eight MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) have become a major framework for global developmentpolicy, practice, and donor assistance. Over the past decade, progress toward meetingthe goals has been made, but has been uneven. Considerable work remains if the MDGs

are to be achieved by 2015. At the same time, the current and anticipated effects ofclimate change1 threaten further progress on each of the MDGs. Millions of people,particularly in the global south, increasingly experience multiple, negative climaterelated impacts on their livelihoods and lives, and these are covered in detail in thefollowing sections. Indeed, climate change has the potential to reverse developmentprogress made over several decades, and the consequences will be felt not only bythose alive today, but by future generations as well.

Despite what is at stake, few national governments or multi-lateral institutions havefully embraced the links between climate change and the MDGs. By contrast, many civilsociety groups and community-based organizations (CBOs) across the world havebrought attention to the threats climate change poses to realization of the MDGs, and

advocated for concerted action. Still, policy priorities and funding for development andclimate change adaptation and mitigation have not yet been allied in fundamentalways; in too many contexts, climate change is still a footnote to MDG implementation.

With only five years left to achieve the MDGs and following the failure of the 2009 UNclimate summit in Copenhagen to ratify a fair, ambitious, and binding climate deal, theupcoming United Nations High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs in New York providesan importantindeed essentialopportunity for agreement on a set of concrete, far-reaching actions.

This publication does not aim to provide an exhaustive account of climate changesimpacts on the MDGs, or a thorough assessment of progress toward the MDG targets.Other institutions have produced excellent documentation on these issues. Rather, thepurpose of this report is to demonstrate the necessity of integrating policies andpractices to achieve the MDGs with those that address climate change, and to do sowith urgency.

Building on the experiences and recommendations of dozens of partners and membersof Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative, the Global Call to Action AgainstPoverty (GCAP) and the Global Campaign on Climate Action (GCCA), we urgegovernments, bilateral and multilateral development institutions, and donors at the UNHigh Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs to:

Promote at national levels the increased integration of MDG planning,monitoring, and reporting mechanisms with national adaptation programs ofaction for climate change (NAPAs), as well as national poverty reduction

1 Article 1 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climatechange as a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity thatalters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climatevariability observed over comparable time periods.http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/518.htm

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currently by rich and poor nations. It recognizes that the worlds peoples have the rightto development, but economic development should occur in a sustainable manner thatdoes not contribute to further negative climatic changes. It demands that those mostaffected by environmental changes, and least able to cope, such as those with limitedresources, assets, and status, must be genuine partners in all efforts to address climatechange. And the gender dimensions of climate change must be recognized, including

through policies and actions that address how natural resource deficits affect womenswork and prospects for empowerment and ensure that womens voices and prioritiesare heard and responded to equally.

In terms of global and national policy-making, a climate justice approach meansbuilding greater awareness amongst political leaders and the broader public about theinter-connectedness of climate change with issues of development and social justice. Allefforts to address the threats posed by climate change must be carried out in ways thatbuttress the principles of sustainable development. Climate justice also demands thatthe rights, needs, and voices of those most affected by environmental changesparticularly those living in poverty, the disempowered, the marginalized, women, andindigenous peoplesbe recognized, heard, and given priority in global debates on

mitigation and adaptation strategies. In addition, such strategies must target benefitsto, and address potential unintended negative consequences for, vulnerable andmarginalized groups.

A climate justice approach also means that development and transfer of low-carbon,affordable, and appropriate technologies are scaled up to reach low-income households,as well as countries as a whole. Global partnerships and a spirit of cooperation are keyto achieving climate justice, with campaigns, policies, and programs providing aplatform for solidarity and shared engagement. Finally, climate justice builds on afoundation of human rights, with attention to accountability, equality, participation, andtransparency in the content of policies and in implementation processes.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Climate change is a human rights issue. Extreme weather and changes inclimatic conditions caused by rising global temperatures are undermining theenjoyment of human rights, particularly for individuals and communities in themost vulnerable situations: people living in poverty; those whose livelihoodsmake them deeply reliant on their surrounding environment; those living onmarginal lands; those pushed to societys edges due to their gender, ability, orethnicity; and those denied their full human rights, whose voices are ignored bypolicy-makers and leaders at local, national, or global levels.

Climate change has and will continue to alter the natural environment in waysthat threaten rights to health, food, water, decent work, and even life. Ensuringrespect for human rights and building on the international rights framework,rooted in equality and a life of dignity for all, points societies towardsinternationally agreed values. It is around these values that common action toaddress climate change and the MDGs can be negotiated.

3. The MDGs and the Global Climate: What is at Stake?

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Climate change arguably poses the greatest threat to reducing poverty, advancingglobal development, and realizing human rights the world has ever seen. People indeveloping countries are not responsible for the climate crisis, but they are paying thehighest price. It is the poorest nations, and the poorest communities within them,including women and indigenous communities, which are experiencing negativeclimatic effects most immediately and most powerfully.

While no single instance of erratic weather or shifting conditions of heat or cold can beattributed directly to climate change, distinct evidence of changes underwayandthose anticipatedhas been provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC). These include long-term changes observed in what the IPCC callsevents of extreme weather: drought, heavy precipitation, heat waves, and theintensity of tropical storms.2

2 Current Evidence of Climate Change.http://unfccc.int/essential_background/feeling_the_heat/items/2904.php

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THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hungerGoal 2: Achieve universal primary educationGoal 3: Promote gender equality and empower

womenGoal 4: Reduce child mortalityGoal 5: Improve maternal healthGoal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other

diseasesGoal 7: Ensure environmental sustainabilityGoal 8: Develop a global partnership fordevelopment

As world leaders gather for the UN High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs inSeptember 2010, examples abound of how extreme weather events that are likely toincrease in number and severity as climate change worsens will undermineachievement of the MDGs. In Pakistan, unprecedented monsoon floods in Augustresulted in thousands of deaths and upended the lives of millions. In Niger, unusuallyheavy rains in July and August, hard on the heels of a devastating drought earlier in theyear that ravaged harvests, have left half the population reliant on food aid. In May,Agathe, a fierce tropical storm, swept through Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Itdestroyed crops, swept aside homes, and hundreds of people died in floods andmudslides. Some fields in southern Guatemala are still under water.

These calamities and others like them offer a glimpse of the ways in which globalwarming3 constrain efforts to achieve the MDGs, as well as broader objectives foradvancing human rights and ensuring sustainable development. And it is not only

headline-grabbing events that provide such evidence. Other changes are underway aswell. In arid regions from Africa to South Asia, rainfall patterns have shifted over recentyears, and drought and floods occur now with increased frequency. Farmers across theglobal south report that the rhythm of the seasons has changed, and with this thepredictability of agricultural cycles.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that if current trendspersist the global temperature will rise anywhere between 1.1 and 6.4 Celsius by2100.4 It is anticipated that 2010 will end up being the warmest year on record.

4. The Nexus - MDGs and the Realities of Climate Change

3 A fact sheet on the UNFCCC defines global warming as follows: Global warming is caused by an excess ofheat-trapping gases, first and foremost carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides. These gases mainlyresult from the burning of fossil fuels, from agriculture and from waste dumps. The gases prevent the sunsenergy from radiating back into space after it has reached the surface of the earth, much like the glass of agreenhouse. http://unfccc.int/press/fact_sheets/items/4978.php4Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2007: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change

2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B.Averyt, M.Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and NewYork, NY, USA, 2007. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf

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As the worlds governments, civil society institutions, international institutions, and theprivate sector move forward on the MDGs, it is important to explore some of the waysthese development objectives are being undermined, directly and indirectly, by theeffectscurrent and anticipatedof climate change.

MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development

MDG 8 always comes at the end of the MDG inventory, but the centrality of partnershipsto achieving the MDGsamong governments, multilateral institutions, donors, civilsociety, the private sector, and communities compels us to prioritize it hence itsplacement in this document. Such partnerships, including accountability for donor aidand government spending of that aid, must also underpin solutions to climate change.

While the Millennium Declaration, agreed by the UN General Assembly in 2000, did notmention climate change, it affirmed several values that provide a basis for joiningpolicy, practice, and funding for achieving the MDGs with a commitment to climatejustice. These include:

Equality. No individual and no nation must be denied the opportunity to benefitfrom development. The equal rights and opportunities of women and men mustbe assured.Solidarity. Global challenges must be managed in a way that distributes thecosts and burdens fairly in accordance with basic principles of equity and socialjustice. Those who suffer or who benefit least deserve help from those whobenefit most; andRespect for nature. Prudence must be shown in the management of all livingspecies and natural resources, in accordance with the precepts of sustainabledevelopment. Only in this way can the immeasurable riches provided to us bynature be preserved and passed on to our descendants. The currentunsustainable patterns of production and consumption must be changed in theinterest of our future welfare and that of our descendants.5

Climate change is arguably the starkest example of a threat the community of nationshas had to tackle. However, too many of the worlds governments, along withmultilateral organizations, are still acting as if achieving the MDGs and arresting climatechange are separate mandates. The UN processes and forums that deal withdevelopment have little if any overlap with the UN Framework Convention on ClimateChange processes; the negotiators and other responsible staff are different and rarelyinteract. And the self-interestedness of states in negotiating climate change is moreakin to the contentious world trade negotiations than to the cooperation and dialoguethat takes place for development. A different approach is neededand urgentlyonethat clearly links problem analysis and policy and program development for the MDGswith climate justice.

The severity of climate change is only being felt in the rural areas where smallpopulations reside often in isolation and thus their voices are not being heardThe presentation of actual experiences of women in their daily lives must beshared with the public so that climate change can become an issue more widely

5 All, United Nations Millennium Declaration, I.6. http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm

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discussed and acted upon.- Aishia Gladford, GCAP Botswana women and climate change hearing

Realizing the shared agenda for ending dehumanizing poverty and ensuring climatejustice will require one human family working together, not a retreat to the staledivisions of north and south, rich and poor. Political leaders and citizens must

communicate openly and effectively. Governments, civil society organizations, theprivate sector and others actors must redouble their efforts to forge a sense ofshared responsibility across national boundaries. Failing to meet theMDGs andfailing to act decisively on climate change are real threats. Development progress madeover decades lies in the balance. The price of inaction, for justice, equity, sustainability,and human rights, are immeasurably large.

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

While poverty rates have fallen, the number of people living on less than $1.25 a dayhas risen to at least 1.4 billion, about one-quarter of people living in the developing

world.6

Climate change is making the lives of people who live in poverty morechallenging, eroding sources of consistent income, and straining coping strategies usedto survive hardship. The growing lack of predictability in weather, and the increasednumber of climate shocks, are disrupting individual and household planning andbudgeting, closing off avenues to climb out of poverty.

Agriculture in particular is already being hard hit by the effects of climate change. This,in turn, puts food security under threat for people now, and for the approximately 3billion people to be added to the global population by 2050. More than 1.2 billion peopleare hungry today, and 7 of 10 of them are women and girls.7

The majority of the worlds farmers who are wholly or largely dependent on rainfall, not

irrigation, to water their crops will be affected most severely. For many, what they growis what their families and communities eat. And even in regions where industrializedagriculture has become more widespread, small farmers continue to have an importantrole in ensuring national food security. When weather reduces mobility, movingharvested crops will be affected. Decent harvests become more elusive duringdroughts, floods, and periods of intense heat or cold. As they do, the incidence ofpoverty will rise, and with it, hunger. Small producers have the most to lose. Nearly onebillion people915 millionconsumed fewer than 2,100 calories a day between 2006and 2008, according to The World Bank, an increase from 873 million in 2004-06.8

If the global temperature increases by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius, the UN Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO) projects that the yield from crops watered by rain only

will drop significantly in some African regions. Desertification and rising salinity of soils6

World Bank, Poverty Reduction and Equity, New Data Show 1.4 Billion Live On Less Than US$1.25 A Day,But Progress Against Poverty Remains Strong, August 26, 2008.http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/0,,contentMDK:21881954~menuPK:336998~pagePK:64020865~piPK:149114~theSitePK:336992,00.html7 UN Development Programme, Fast Facts: Millennium Development Goals. June 2010.http://www.undp.org/publications/fast-facts/FF-mdg.pdf8

World Bank, Data, Progress toward the MDGs, but much remains to be done, 2010, accessed August2010. http://data.worldbank.org/news/significant-progress-towards-achieving-MDGs

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will also challenge food production in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.9 Yields ofrice, a critical staple food for billions of people, are likely to be negatively impacted byrising temperatures in Asia, where 90% of the worlds rice is produced, according to theFAO. A drop in rice production will mean more hunger and poverty.10 The Hadley Centerfor Climate Change predicts that by 2100, arid and semi-arid regions in sub-SaharanAfrica will increase by 60 to 90 million hectares (150222 million acres). As a result, US

$26 billion in potential income could be lost by 2060 in these drought-prone regions.That is more than the sum of bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa in 2005.11

In addition, securing employment or enjoying the right to work are likely to becomemore difficult as harsh weather disrupts transportation systems (flooding out roads orrailways) and industries like tourism. The health of workers may be affected negatively,too, with infectious disease rates likely to rise in some regions. A gender dimensionexists here, too. In agriculture, tourism, and matters of workforce health, women are setto be affected more than men by the impacts of global warming, according to theInternational Labour Organisation.12

UGANDA: FLOODS, DROUGHT, AND ADVANCING THE MDGS

At local levels in communities in both the south and north, women are taking thelead in addressing the cascading effects of climate change. Constance Okollet isthe chairperson of the Osukuru United Womens Network in eastern Uganda,which includes more than 40 organizations. In 2007, heavy rains fell onConstances village, destroying homes and the food supply and displacing all ofthe residents. An unprecedented drought followed, leading to more hunger anddisruption. Constance is also one of the Climate Wise Women, a group of womenleaders from across the world dedicated to sharing their experiences of climatechange, and what they and their communities are doing about it and want to seedone, with policy-makers, civil society, other local communities, and the media.

The Osukuru Womens Network runs several programmes designed to increaseresilience to climate shocks and advance the MDGs. To promote MDG 1, thenetwork has a savings and credit programme so members can start and sustainsmall market enterprises like selling produce and paraffin. Proceeds meet basicfamily needs for food and clothing. To combat hunger, network members plantcrops early and use seeds that germinate quickly to take advantage of the nowshortened period of seasonal rains.

While green jobs offer potential new employment opportunities (e.g. in non fossil fuelenergy production) that would link MDG 1 and MDG 7, it is important to note that some

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UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Profile for Climate Change, Rome: FAO, 2009.ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/012/i1323e/i1323e00.pdf10

UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Media center, Hotter nights threaten food security rice at risk,August 9, 2010. http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/44618/icode/11

UN Development Programme, Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, HumanDevelopment Report 2007/2008, New York: UNDP, 2007.12

International Labour Organisation, Governing Body, International Labour Office, Working Party on theSocial Dimension of Globalisation, Decent work for sustainable development The challenge of climatechange, WP/SDG, Geneva: ILO, November 2007. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_084890.pdf

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such jobs can be dirty and dangerous, and fall short of the definition of decent work.The lack of reliable sources of energy is an important facet of the persistence of povertyand lagging development. As such, creating new sources of green energy throughstable jobs with good working conditions will advance MDG 1 as well as climate justice.

Farm lands have been taken away by floods and water bodies have dried up.

Now farmers cant predict when it will be raining, when to plant, and when toexpect their harvest. The change in rainfall pattern[s] has made life in thecommunity unbearable.- Farmer from Monze, Zambia Climate Justice Hearing, 2009

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education

The effects of climate change influence the likelihood of children entering andremaining in school in several ways. If parents livelihoods are negatively affected byerratic weatherharvests fail, drought wipes out livestock, business infrastructure isdamaged, employment opportunities are lostschool fees or the costs of uniforms,

books, and transportation can become insurmountable hurdles. Or the disruption ofdaily routines by extreme weather events may close off opportunities for children toattend primary school; girls are likely to be the most affected.

Women in India whose early childhoods in the 1970s included experience of drought orflooding were nearly 20% less likely to have attended primary school than women ofthe same age and born into similar socio-economic circumstances, but whose earlychildhoods did not feature either drought or floods.13 Girls who begin primary schoolmay be required by parents to skip a year (or more) or stop attending classes entirelywhere their labor is deemed essential to help counter household ecological deficitsrelated to climate change, such as declining local availability of water or wood forcooking and heating.

Extreme weather events can also damage or destroy school buildings, and the roads orpaths on which children and their teachers travel. For children in primary school,privations such as hunger, a lack of water, or financial and emotional distress amongfamily members during an event like a drought, can impede academic focus andachievement. The knock-on effects are considerable, among them constraints onopportunities for higher education or the joining of training programs or certain careers.Lifelong developmental potential may be affected, and with it the chance to surmountthe cycle of inter-generational poverty.

Climate-related shocks are also fueling increased migration, both temporary and morepermanent. For the children of climate refugees, primary schools may simply be

unavailable (in, for example, camps, informal settlements, or remote regions) orunaffordable. Moreover, in unsettled conditions, childrens education often falls downthe familys list of priorities. As it does, adult health status, prospects for independenceand autonomy, and progress toward equality across genders and economic classesbecome increasingly uncertain.

13Human Development Report Office, UN Development Programme, The Effects of Climate-Related

Disasters on Human Development, HD Insights, HDR Networks, December 2007, Issue 15.

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Water is increasingly becoming scarce now. We have to walk long distances insearch of water and do our household chores before going to school. The yieldsfrom our farms are now poorer and our parents cant even afford three-squaremeals a day; much less provide us with school materials. This is really affectingour studies and academic performance.- Students from Tumu Basic School, Upper West Ghana, GCAP Ghana climatejustice hearing

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Climate change is also hampering progress toward womens and girls equality andempowerment, with critical, long-term effects for individual women and societiesoverall. For women in poor countries, global warming means more and harder work:they and often their daughters must spend more time and energy venturing further tosecure water and firewood as streams go dry, groundwater dwindles, and forests andother vegetation fall sway to drought or severe storms that bring floods and mudslides.

Widespread energy poverty also has specific gender impacts. Where no other source offuel is available women and girls must apportion hours a day to securing sufficientsupplies. As they do, they also forfeit time that could be spent on income-generatingactivities, training, education, or participation in community and public life. In addition,women are the majority of the worlds farmers, producing between 60% and 80% offood in most developing nations.14 Drought, heat, floods, and the resulting dislocationinterrupt harvest cycles and deny women secure livelihoods. Given their central role infood production, this puts household, community, and even national food security atrisk. In addition, in many households it is a womans income that funds childrensschooling, clothing, and health care. Without it, progress toward the MDGs for educationand health is slowed. Experience over decades and in numerous countries also confirmsthat without greater gender equality, arresting the spread of HIV/AIDS and combating

maternal and child mortality (addressed in MDGs 4-6) cannot be achieved.

COMMUNITIES ADDRESS CLIMATE JUSTICE AND GENDER

People living in poverty are often forgotten or excluded from key decisions madearound policy interventions. Genuine and sustainable solutions to climate changeand poverty can only be found with the participation, approval, and leadership ofthose living in poverty. In 2009, GCAP and its Feminist Task Force organized aseries of Climate Justice and Poverty Hearings and Women and Climate ChangeTribunals in 18 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The aim was to allowthose who have been directly affected by climate change to share their stories,air their concerns, and demand a voice in policy debateson climate change. The

hearings and tribunals shed light not only on the many ways communities areexperiencing climate change, but also what they are doing to adapt. This veryassembly bears testimony to the courage and conviction of so many ordinarypeople who have risen to the occasion with a great sense of hope andcompassion, reads the Womens Charter on Climate Justice produced duringthe gender and climate change tribunal in India. Participants around the world

14UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO Focus, Women and Food Security.

http://www.fao.org/FOCUS/E/Women/Sustin-e.htm

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have undertaken a number of follow-up actions. These include drafting of aDeclaration of Climate Communities, launched at the COP15 climate summit in2009.

This event has provided us with an opportunity to begin to redesign publicpolicies and reaffirm ourselves as citizens, said Alvaro Sapag at the climatejustice and poverty hearing in Chile. The tribunal created the platform andopportunity to hear from the women who directly bear the impact of climatechange and polluted farmlands, which has led to low crop yield andimpoverishment of the people, of women and children in particular, saidCaroline Usikpedo Omoniye from the Niger Delta: It has led to further plans foractions, like rural mobilizations and advocacy and awareness campaigns onclimate change.

MDGs 4, 5 and 6: Reduce child mortality; Improve maternal health; CombatHIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (improve health for all)

Global warming also has critical implications for achieving the health related MDGs andprogressively realizing the right to health. Extreme weather threatens water systems,power generation, food production and storage, shelter, and the means and ease oftransportation. All these factors can put needed health care out of reach, or compoundthe incidence of disease. For instance, progress toward maternal health requires womenbeing able to access care while pregnant and during and after delivery.

If roads are impassable because of floods, or electricity is unavailable in a hospital orhealth center due to a drought, maternal care may be compromised, with potentiallydire results. In addition, as climate change affects food availability and food prices,pregnant women living in poverty are more likely to become malnourished, putting theirhealth, and that of their unborn child, at greater risk. A lack of adequate, nutritious food

a likely result of drought, high heat, extreme cold or floods that disrupt or destroycropscan lead to weaker immune systems, rendering individuals more susceptible tocommunicable diseases. Moreover, if the effects of global warming cause householdincomes to fall, treatment for child malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria, or tuberculosis maybecome unaffordable.Global warming also affects the availability of potable water. Droughts constrain watervolume, while floods or storms often contaminate itraising the risk of intestinaldiseases that can be fatal to infants and children under 5. According to UNICEF, vector-,water- and air-born diseases that are the primary causes of child death or illnesses willincrease with climate change. Moreover, immunization and breast-feeding are lesslikely to occur during natural disasters, with long-term, negative impacts on childrens

health.

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Studies done in Kenya and Ethiopia for the UN Development Programmes2007/2008 Human Development Reportfound that children 5 or younger born in Kenyaduring a drought were 36% more likely to be malnourished than those not born in atime of drought. In Ethiopia, the impact was even greater: children under 5 born duringdroughts were 50%, more likely to be malnourished.16 In South Asia, 40% of children are

15Akachi, Yoko, et al., Global Climate Change and Child Health: A review of pathways, impacts and

measures to improve the evidence base, UNICEF Innocenti Research Center Discussion paper, IDP No.2009-03, June 2009. www.unicef-irc.org

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underweight, along with 25% of children in sub-Saharan Africa.17

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that diarrheal diseases, malnutrition,malaria, and dengue fever are extremely sensitive to climatic changes and are likely toworsen as climate change intensifies.18 Malaria, for example, is being found in regionswhere it was all but unknown. In the East African highlands, researchers concluded that

a half-degree temperature rise between 1950 and 2002 resulted in a significantincrease in the mosquito population and, with it, the chances of malarial infection.19 Therisk of contracting HIV/AIDS, often found in higher rates in mobile populations especiallyof men, may also rise as individuals are forced by climate change to migrate far fromhome in search of sufficient water, fuel, land, or employment. In addition, ongoingtreatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, or preventive education, can beinterrupted if mobility is constrained.

Women and caretakers of farms suffer most. We walk long distances to fetchdried firewood, hunt for water, and sell farm produce. The size and quality of ourfood crops have deteriorated over the years. The sun is squeezing comfort, goodhealth, and life out of our village. This climate change has negatively impactedour tradition and lifestyle.- Women leaders in Tumu, GCAP Ghana climate justice hearing

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Until relatively recently, MDG 7 has been underemphasized. But this is changing, andseveral UN agencies and civil society organizations are tracking progress toward itandrights to water and a clean and healthy environmentwith increased focus.

MDG 7 is relevant to both rural and urban regions, and climate change is affectingprogress toward meeting the goal in both contexts. According to the Millennium

Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), 60 percent of the Earths ecosystem services essential tohuman society, such as providing fresh water, cleaning the air, and pollinating crops,are currently degraded or being used in unsustainable ways. Any progress achieved inaddressing the goals of poverty and hunger eradication, improved health, andenvironmental protection is unlikely to be sustained, if disruption of ecosystemservices goes on, the authors of the MEA wrote.20

Climate change is putting new pressures on ecosystems: desertification from heat,drought, and the melting of glaciers, and the migration or extinction of species thatmaintain ecosystem health and support livelihoods. In rural areas, individuals andcommunities that depend on natural resources will experience greater hardship, and

16UN Development Programme, Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, Human

Development Report 2007/2008, New York: UNDP, 2007.17 World Bank, Data, Progress toward the MDGs, but much remains to be done, 2010, accessed August2010. http://data.worldbank.org/news/significant-progress-towards-achieving-MDGs18

World Health Organization, Media centre, Climate change and health, January 2010.http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/index.html19 Science Daily, Warming Trend May Contribute to Malarias Rise, March 22, 2006.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060322142101.htm20

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Experts say that attention to ecosystem services is needed toachieve global development goals, March 30, 2005. http://www.maweb.org/en/article.aspx?id=58

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the potential for a deepening of poverty, as ecosystems become less productive andless resilient to climate shifts. A vicious circle can be unleashed: increased exploitationin a desperate scramble for survivaland plunging prospects for sustainabledevelopment. About half the worlds people now live in cities. A rise in globaltemperatures of 3 to 4 degrees Celsius may lead to the displacement of more than 300million people on a temporary or permanent basis due to flooding, according to the UN

Development Programme.21

New research suggests that IPCC 2007 estimates of anticipated sea level rises werelow, and that the increase will be more substantial: 75 to 190 centimeters (29.5 to 75inches) overall in the period between 1990 and 2100.22 Among those hardest hit will bethe worlds approximately 1 billion slum dwellers.23 Not only do rising seas threatencoastal cities; tropical storms and cyclones also wreak havoc on low-lying settlements,and inland flooding is becoming more common. As a result, the often-informalinfrastructure of slums (paths, water points, jerry-rigged electricity, homes built fromflimsy materials) is threatened, as are employment and schooling opportunities forslum-dwellers.

Availability of water has a crucial affect on MDG 7 targets. By 2080, about 1.8 billionadditional people could be living in environments deemed water-scarce, disruptingagriculture and human habitation.24 But threats from climate change also come in theform of too much water, from more intense storms, floods, and sea level rises. Both toolittle and too much water are threats they can damage, interrupt, or set back effortsto provide clean water and sanitation for the more than a billion people who lack them.

Where I live, water is now a rare commodity. I am therefore forced to buy it. Myemployer pays me the same amount of wages, yet I have added responsibilitiesof buying expensive water and food. When water was abundant, many of uscultivated our own vegetables. Now you need at least 100 shillings to take careof your whole family. Many of us only have one meal a day, yet it is our right tohave three meals in a day.- Nicholas Araka, Kasarani, GCAP Kenya climate justice hearing

Yet many resources are available to mitigate climate change, along with enormousenergy and appetite to bring about the next industrial revolution for green power.Across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, 1.6 billion people lack a household energysource. Efforts to reduce energy poverty also offer direct support for the MDGs; cleanenergy in homes, schools, health centers, enterprises, and government institutionswould improve health, accelerate gender equality, facilitate education, and contributeto environmental sustainability. A number of such initiatives are underway. Although

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UN Development Programme, Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, HumanDevelopment Report 2007/2008, New York: UNDP, 2007.22

Vermeer, Martin and Stefan Rahmstorf, Global sea level linked to global temperature, Proceedings ofthe National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, PNAS Early Edition, December 4, 2009.http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/12/04/0907765106.full.pdf23

UN-Habitat, Statement by Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Secretary General & Executive Director, UNFCCC,High Level Segment, 2007. http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5502&catid=550&typeid=8&subMenuId=024

UN Development Programme, Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, HumanDevelopment Report 2007/2008, New York: UNDP, 2007.

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most are small in scale, each can offer valuable information to guide implementation ofthe large-scale efforts that are essential.

In Kenya, the Lighting the Way to Leadership project is bringing lighting to Maasaiwomen through a partnership between the Caucus for Women's Leadership, a KenyanNGO, and the U.K.-based NGO, Lifeline Energy. Distribution of lifelights, which feature

long-lasting, low energy LEDs (light emitting diodes) have allowed the women to reducetheir use of firewood and kerosene-powered koroboys for illumination after the sungoes down (none of the women have electricity from the national grid.) Keroseneproduces toxic fumes that coat the insides of houses and also invade womens lungsand eyes as they cook. The lifelights are powered by green energy: small solar panelsor a hand-turned crank. With the lifelight, women have been able to continue householdchores and traditional beadwork into the evening. The project also seeks to facilitatethe womens participation in local governance structures, as well as exploration oflivelihood options. Lifeline Energy is set to launch a lifelight project in South Africatargeting students, particularly girls, so they can continue their studies at night.25

The development and human rights challenges faced by people across the world aredaunting. But the resilience and resourcefulness of communities across the world in theexamples above are equally notable. As is clear from the examples presented above,when addressing climate change and achieving the MDGs are linked more closely inanalysis, problem-solving and policy change, progress on both will be swifter.

25Lighting the Way to Leadership Launches in Kenya Media center, Lifeline Energy.

http://lifelineenergy.org/NC_LightingtheWaytoLeadership.html

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http://lifelineenergy.org/NC_LightingtheWaytoLeadership.htmlhttp://lifelineenergy.org/NC_LightingtheWaytoLeadership.html

Global Warming Impacts on the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

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