As world leaders gather for climate talks, the poorest have the most to lose - Assalamu alaikum
Assalamu alaikum. When the summer heat rolls into the Arara neighborhood in northern Rio, it stays, baking the red brick and concrete long after sunset. Luis Cassiano, who’s lived there for over 30 years, says he’s getting worried as heat waves come more often and hit harder. In poorer areas like Arara, people who can afford air conditioning - Cassiano is one - can’t always rely on it because frequent power outages strain the system. Cassiano finds some relief from a green roof he put on about a decade ago, which can keep his house much cooler than his neighbor’s, but staying comfortable is still a struggle. “The sun in the summer nowadays is scary,” he said. As leaders meet in Brazil for climate talks, folks like Cassiano are the ones who stand to lose the most. Poor communities tend to be more exposed to hazards like extreme heat and huge storms, and they usually lack the means to cope compared with wealthier areas. Any help coming from these talks requires countries to do more than announce pledges to cut emissions - they must find the political will to follow through and raise the billions needed to adapt farms, homes and infrastructure to survive human-driven climate change. The need is urgent for the roughly 1.1 billion people living in acute poverty worldwide, according to the UN. That’s why many welcomed the choice of Belem, a relatively poor city, to host the talks. “I am pleased that we will be going to a place like this, because this is where climate meets poverty, meets demand, meets financing needs, and meets the reality of the majority of the population of this world that are impacted by climate change,” said Inger Andersen of UNEP. Even in rich countries, the poor feel the impacts It’s not only poor nations where suffering occurs when poverty and climate change collide. A UN report found that even in highly developed countries, 82 percent of people living in poverty will be exposed to at least one of four climate hazards: extreme heat, drought, floods and air pollution. People in poverty are more vulnerable for many reasons, said Carter Brandon of the World Resources Institute. They may not be able to move away from deltas, floodplains, landslide-prone hillsides or drought-hit farmland. They often lack money to rebuild after disasters, and those financial shocks are worsened by health problems, limited education or little social mobility. “It’s not just that climate destroys buildings or bridges or property. It destroys the livelihoods of families. And if you don’t have savings, that’s really devastating,” Brandon said. Crop yields fall hardest where people are poorest Even countries with more resources to adapt will see agricultural losses under warming scenarios, a UNDP analysis found, but poorer countries will be hit worse. Heriberto Tapia of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office pointed to Africa, where more than 500 million people live in poverty and many depend on crops for their living. Most of the world’s 550 million smallholder farmers are in low- or middle-income countries, working in marginal environments and highly exposed to climate risks, said Ismahane Elouafi of CGIAR. She believes technology could help these farmers, but many can’t afford it, and she’s not confident this COP will mobilize enough funding. Will hosting COP30 in the Global South change things? Brazilian officials hoped that holding talks in Belem, near the Amazon and not a wealthy city, would remind negotiators of the daily realities millions face from extreme weather. “I heard there were a lot of negotiators who have been complaining of being put on a bunk bed, or in terms of sharing a room, but this is the reality of most people around the world,” said Nafkote Dabi of Oxfam. “So I think it makes things real.” Still, some experts are skeptical. “I wish that they had said more about what exactly is the rapid action that needs to be taken, because I don’t think rapid action is going to come out of COP,” said Kimberly Marion Suiseeya of Duke University. With poverty not improving, why focus on climate? While public narratives once said poverty was declining, figures now show stagnation, said Pedro Conceição of UNDP. “The numbers are high and they are not budging.” In a memo before COP30, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates urged shifting some focus from just cutting emissions to reducing human suffering. On climate change, “there’s no apocalyptic story for rich countries,” he said. “The place where it gets really tough is in these poor countries.” But Conceição warned it’s wrong to treat poverty reduction and climate action as competing goals. The idea that climate is only a distant problem - glaciers melting somewhere else - must be replaced by understanding that the two agendas are one and the same. May Allah guide leaders to make choices that protect the vulnerable and provide the resources needed for communities to adapt and thrive.
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