The global crisis we can’t ignore

As the earth and rivers dry, as sea levels rise and glaciers shrink, and as agricultural land degrades in the face of expanding deserts, people and nations are being forced to make desperate choices. Should I migrate to the city or make a dangerous attempt to get to ‘the West’? Do I send my children out to work instead of to school in order to survive? Do I move my cattle onto new pasture land or take water from a neighbour’s well.  New challenges, tensions, conflicts, disasters, all fueled by climate change. So new thinking, new programmatic responses and greater agility are needed to respond to our fast-changing world.

As an organisation working in countries and communities severely affected by environmental degradation and climate change, we are deeply concerned at what we are witnessing and hearing. As a global organisation present in 100 countries, we have unique access to grassroots communities the world over. They have been telling us for years that things are worsening, that the seasons are unreliable. So, we are working hard to respond by partnering with them to build their resilience, to become climate-change and disaster-ready, and to respond to crises when they happen.

Climate change is a threat multiplier  

The World Bank reports 130 million additional people will be pushed into poverty because of climate change by 2030. Climate-related shocks and risks exacerbate inequalities between children in terms of health, education and long-term development outcomes. Threatened livelihoods and competition for scarce resources triggered by changing climate put millions of children at increased risk of violence. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to pre-existing gender inequalities and social norms. 45 million people worldwide who are currently at extreme risk of famine and almost 21 million children are one step away from famine and face starvation due to the climate crisis, conflicts and Covid-19.  3.2 billion people are affected by land degradation, while over 160 million children living in areas of high level drought. Without action on climate change, droughts will continue to intensify, land degradation and desertification will continue to accelerate, and the hunger crisis will be further exacerbated. Climate change is having severe humanitarian consequences as well. More frequent and severe natural hazards are amplifying already high levels of humanitarian need globally.  By 2050, the World Bank estimates that an additional 143 million people across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America could be internally displaced as a result of slow onset impacts of climate change including water stress, crop failure and sea-level rise. 

Kenya’s ‘Super Kids’: fighting climate change and saving forests

Ruth works with other members of her community to restore forests and fight climate change. The improved environment gives her and other children the opportunity to enjoy their childhoods and dream of a different future.