Climate Action 2011-2012

the UNFCCC), its importance is still underestimated in
climate negotiations.
Poverty and the Climate
We all know that much of humankind lives well beyond the
planet’s capacities in terms of natural resources. We all know
that we have to improve our ability to reduce greenhouse
gases. We know that certain consumption patterns, and
sometimes even our lifestyle, will have to change. But during
talks of all kinds, it is also our duty to point out that these
changes are much more difficult to make for the poor.
The climate might vary, but poverty is constant. Economic
development and social harmony are the only realistic means
of wiping out poverty little by little. We simply came to
understand a few years ago that we must also respect nature
and the resources it brings us.
Water is as vital to humankind and its survival as it is to
nature and its protection. And yet almost one billion human
beings still do not have sufficient water, and double that
number do not have access to decent sanitation.
CitieS PoSe the threat
The climate is not, now or in future, the main hazard for
the planet’s water. The most imminent threat to its future
is human behaviour as a whole, resulting from the fastpaced
changes taking place worldwide: population growth,
urbanisation, ‘littoralisation’ (moving to the coastline),
higher standards of living, pollution and the destruction
of the natural environment.
Humans are without doubt water’s number one enemy
and the climate must not be used as a scapegoat for their
mistakes. People’s insistence on gathering together in everlarger
cities and in saturated coastal regions is the biggest
threat in the 21st century – far greater than rising waters
and drought. Megacities are certainly showcases for the
most outstanding technology, but in both the North and
the South they are above all pits of poverty, ignorance and
disease, an affront to human dignity.
Humans are without doubt
water’s number one enemy and
the climate must not be used as a
scapegoat for their mistakes.
The mode of thinking whereby the future of humanity
lies in the city must be debated and transformed. In the next
fifty years, we have to invent adaptation to urban growth,
rethink the distribution of humans on the earth’s surface and
create a new concept of less concentrated, less polluting and
less energy-hungry cities.
The distribution of the world’s fresh water resources will
be a decisive factor. Water is more difficult to transport than
energy. Currently, the water supply is not as close as required
for the megacities, which are pollution traps and sometimes
even sanitary time bombs.
Water shortages like those seen recently in East Africa
will become more common unless actions are taken.
38 climateactionprogramme.org
© Oxfam