The Anatomy of A Silent Crisis The Anatomy of A Silent Crisis

68 Forum 2009: Climate Change – The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis
Figure 13 — Threats to Millennium Development Goals due to climate change
MDGs Threat to MDGs
Goal 1: Eradicate
extreme hunger
and poverty
Goal 2: Achieve
universal primary
education
Goal 3: Promote
gender equality
Goals 4, 5, and
6: Reduce child
mortality, improve
maternal health
and combat HIV/
AIDS, malaria and
other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure
environmental
sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a
global partnership
for development
• More frequent and intense weather-related disasters threaten
livelihoods, regional food security is undermined and vulnerability of
poor people increases
• Water scarcity further aggravates the problem as vase amount of fresh
water is required to half hunger.
• Without the effects of climate change, about 10 million fewer people would
live in poverty today.
• The number of malnourished is expected to increase due to climate change.
• Loss of livelihoods means more children will be engaged in incomeearning
activities and the displacement and migration of families will make
education a low priority.
• Infrastructure, such as schools are destroyed. For example, in 1998,
Hurricane Mitch destroyed one-quarter of all of Honduras’ schools.
• Women make up two-thirds of world’s poor and are more adversely
impacted by disasters.
• Additional burdens are placed on women’s health as additional work and
chores increase stress levels
• Women and children are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events.
For example, 90 percent of victims in the cyclone in Bangladesh in 1991
were women and children.
• Children and pregnant women are particularly susceptible to vectorand
water-borne diseases, malnutrition and diarrhoea, all of which
are expected to grow due to climate change. About 90 percent of the
deaths occur in children under 5.
• Climate change causes fundamental alterations in ecosystems, such as
losses of coral reefs, for example
• Climate change has reduced biodiversity. IPCC estimates that 20-30
percent of global species are likely to be at risk of extinction this century.
• Climate change changes the quality and quantity of natural resources. For
example, 20 million people in six countries in West and Central Africa rely
on Lake Chad for water, but the lake has shrunk by 95 percent in the last
38 years.
• Investment in adaptation and mitigation is crucial and requires close
cooperation and coordination.
• The lack of adequate investment for adaptation acts as a significant drag
on humanitarian assistance and development.