Cast Adrift in a Warming World

The industrialised world is already spending billions to protect itself from the impacts of climate change, while the poorest nations on earth, who will be hit first and hardest, struggle to adapt on the pitifully small resources pledged by the rich countries that caused the problem.

Given the amount of time it has taken to make the Kyoto Protocol a reality, you may think that the industrialised world is not worried about climate change but take a close look at some of the items currently listed in government budgets and you will find billions spent on projects that tell a different story.

In the Netherlands 80 million Euros spent on embankments to protect against sea level rise in Limburg province; in France $748 million dollars being spent upgrading the health service after 11,000 people died during the 2003 heat wave; in New York City an estimated $6-8 billion spent on a water filtration plant to protect the Catskills watershed that will cost $300 million a year to run.

These are just a few examples of spending to protect against climate related disasters. There are many more.

Contrast that with the measly $0.41 billion rich countries have pledged to give to developing countries to help them manage their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Just to put it in context, estimates of the cost of protecting the coastal population of Tanzania alone come in at $14.6 billion.

The rich countries of the world are overwhelmingly responsible for the current levels of climate change and they have a legal and moral duty to meet much of the costs of the problem in poor countries, as well as take the lead in preventing more climate change.

It is clear that the impacts of climate change will hit developing countries first and hardest and also clear that they cannot afford the kind of protection that the developed world is currently providing for itself.

The hypocrisy is staggering but it doesn’t end there. The industrialised countries also continue to subsidise their dirty, polluting fossil fuel industries by $73 billion a year.

They are acting like confused firemen, promisimg to hold back the flames of climate change with one hand and pouring oil on the fire with the other, while the poorest people in the world are left to burn.

It’s time to get serious about stopping climate change and more than time to give developing countries the funds they need to adapt.

Download the Greenpeace/nef report 'Cast Adrift'