What’s Going On Here?
Yet another UN report was released this week, it warns the climate crisis could push another 120 million people into poverty by 2030. Penned as a ‘climate apartheid’ by the UN, the report suggests that the rich could pay to escape the heat and hunger caused by the climate crisis, while the rest of the world suffers.
What Does This Mean?
From 1948 to the early 1990s, racial segregation existed in South Africa and South West Africa causing huge political, social and economical disparities – a system called apartheid. Philip Alston, the UN expert behind the report, believes similar disparities could come as a result of the climate crisis.
We already knew the climate crisis wasn’t a good thing… low crop yields could result in starvation. Rising sea levels could cause loss of homes. Increased temperatures could cause more natural disasters. This report suggests that even in the ‘best-case’ (and very unlikely…) 1.5C warming by 2100 scenario, many millions of people will have to choose between starvation and migration.
Worse still, developing nations are expected to suffer at least 75% of the costs of climate change. That’s pretty shocking and unfair, when you consider that the poorer half of the world’s population generates just 10% of emissions.
Why Should We Care?
The world is changing as we know it and we’re already seeing the impacts of this. A 2018 World Bank report suggested that 140 million people could be displaced as a result of climate change and we’re already seeing people migrating or being forced out of their homes because of weather-related disasters.
Whilst the climate crisis might not make you homeless, it will have its own impact on you – less coffee, pricier beer, even less money!
Be Curious!
Whilst this is serious stuff, don’t let it cause you eco-anxiety. Keep doing your bit for the planet:
- Check out our easy tips here
- Follow us on Instagram for loads more tips!
- Remember that a lot of this is down to world leaders, and keep demanding more from them (join the protests, join the conversation on social media, don’t back down!)
