Climate Change Q and A

What impact does climate change have on the Millennium Development Goals?

According to the UN Development Program (UNDP), climate change presents significant threats to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aim to halve poverty by 2015. The increasing frequency and severity of floods, droughts, and hurricanes threaten the very resources poor countries rely on. According to the UNDP, these events "are likely to place additional strains on poorer countries already facing serious challenges due to food insecurity, indebtedness, HIV/AIDS, environmental degradation, armed conflicts, economic shocks, and the effects of globalization."

Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations, put it this way in a November 8, 2006 submission to the Washington Post: "Efforts to prevent future emissions must not be allowed to obscure the need to adapt to climate change, which will be an enormous undertaking because of the massive carbon accumulations to date. The world's poorest countries, many of them in Africa, are least able to cope with this burden—which they had little role in creating—and will need international help if they are not to be further thwarted in their efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals ...The question is not whether climate change is happening but whether, in the face of this emergency, we ourselves can change fast enough."

How climate change threatens the MDGs

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Climate change is predicted to do the following:

Degrade the forests, fish, pastures, and cropland that many poor families depend on for their food and their means of earning a living.
Damage poor people’s homes, water supply, and health, which will undermine their ability to earn a living.
Exacerbate social tensions over resource use, which can lead to conflict, destabilizing livelihoods and forcing communities to migrate.

Achieve universal primary education

Climate change could undermine children’s ability to attend school.

More children (especially girls) are likely to be taken out of school to help fetch water, care for ill relatives, or earn an income.
Malnourishment and illness among children could reduce their school attendance and impair their learning when they are in class.
Floods and hurricanes destroy school buildings and force migration.

Promote gender equity and empower women

Climate change is expected to exacerbate current gender inequalities.

Women tend to depend more on the natural environment for their livelihoods than men do, so women are more vulnerable than men to its variability and change.
Women and girls are typically the ones to fetch water, fodder, firewood, and often food. In times of climate stress, they must cope with fewer resources and a greater workload.
Female-headed households with few assets are affected particularly severely by climate-related disasters.

Reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat major diseases

Climate change will lead to more deaths and illness as a result of heat waves, floods, droughts, and hurricanes.

It may increase the prevalence of diseases spread by mosquitoes (such as malaria and dengue fever) or spread in water (such as cholera and dysentery). Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to these diseases.
It is expected to reduce the quality and quantity of drinking water, as well as exacerbate malnutrition among children, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ensure environmental sustainability

Climate change will alter the quality and productivity of natural resources and ecosystems, some of which may be irreversibly damaged. These changes will also reduce biological diversity and compound existing environmental degradation.

Develop a global partnership

Climate change is a global challenge, and responding to it requires global cooperation, especially to enable developing countries to tackle poverty and inequality. It heightens the need for donors to honor their Official Development Assistance commitments and to provide additional resources for adaptation.

Sources: Adapted from Sperling (2003) and Reid and Alam (2005), from Oxfam's "Adapting to climate change: What's needed in poor countries, and who should pay" (Oxford, UK: Oxfam International, 2007), Oxfam Briefing Paper.

Why is Oxfam campaigning on global warming?

Oxfam America is very concerned about the increasing burden that climate change and climate-related disasters present to those least capable of dealing with the impacts. People in developing countries are more than 20 times as likely to be affected by such disasters as compared with those in the developed world. Even the most conservative estimates are worrisome:

Across Africa, 75 million to 250 million people could face severe water shortages by 2020.
African hunger could grow as agricultural production is compromised by shorter growing seasons and lower yields. In some countries, yields from rain-fed crops could be halved by 2020.

Oxfam is undertaking a campaign to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change by creating equitable solutions to the crisis. We want the US to cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide essential financial and technical assistance so that the most vulnerable communities can adapt.

What is Oxfam bringing to the issue?

We will put the needs of poor people first. Global leaders must make it a priority to deal with the devastating impacts of climate change on the lives of millions of the world’s poorest people.
From the field, we can give a clear narrative about how climate change undermines the struggle for survival in poor communities and countries, which are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
We will demand justice and equity in global solutions. The consequences of climate change have a disproportionate and debilitating impact on women. We are committed to gender justice and the need to help women in developing countries in their struggle to survive.
We have decades of experience working in sustainable development.
We are a world leader in efforts to reduce the risks and consequences of natural disasters, such as those that are projected to occur with increasing frequency as a result of climate change.

What is Oxfam doing on the ground?

As part of the larger Oxfam International family, Oxfam America works with some of the world’s poorest and most marginalized people in more than 100 countries. Many of these communities have been coping with adverse weather conditions for a long time, and Oxfam has been supporting them. We have a long history of supporting vulnerable communities through our disaster preparedness and livelihoods work.

What does it mean to “help poor people adapt”?

People have always adapted to natural variability in the climate. But human-induced climate change will create unprecedented climate stress for many of the world’s most vulnerable communities. It is making weather patterns less predictable and increasing the intensity and frequency of floods, droughts, hurricanes, and storms.

In order for communities to adapt to climate change, they must take early action to reduce their vulnerability and build their resilience to new and heightened risks. This sort of work could reduce the damaging impact that climatic shocks will have on their lives and their methods of earning a living. If they fail to adapt to the new reality of global warming before they face its full impacts, they will suffer far greater damage from natural disasters, and at much higher cost, both in human and financial terms.

Money is needed to help poor countries adapt. The governments of developed countries, such as the US, must help—as they bear the responsibility for much of the damage. This financing must be new and in addition to existing development aid commitments. It should be channeled through agencies and international institutions that have expertise in development and climate change. Funding should be delivered in a transparent and accountable way, with input and participation by local affected communities.

In addition, developing countries will need help in meeting their own energy needs as their economies grow. Through low-carbon-emitting green sources of energy and other green technologies, developing communities and countries can minimize their greenhouse gas emissions while meeting their future energy needs. The US economy and US workers can benefit when these green technologies are shared with developing countries.

What are some examples of adaptation efforts?

Efforts to cope with increased flooding: upgrading national flood early warning systems and raising community awareness, building new homes and schools on raised foundations, building high platforms for emergency flood shelter, integrating flood risks into governmental planning and budgeting processes, and creating a community-based action plan for responding to floods.

Efforts to cope with lower, more erratic rainfall: upgrading national meteorological systems and medium-term forecasts; researching, testing, and growing drought-tolerant crop varieties; installing efficient, low-cost irrigation systems; installing rainwater-harvesting systems; and spreading water-conserving farming practices.

Efforts to cope with more severe hurricanes: upgrading hurricane early warning systems and community awareness, planting a mangrove bioshield along the coast to diffuse storm waves, and changing building regulations to reinforce new infrastructure.

Why should the US lead the effort to provide adaptation funding?

As the largest economy in the world, as well as one of the largest historical producers of greenhouse gas emissions, the US has a responsibility to provide international leadership on climate change. This leadership requires accomplishing two goals. The US must stop contributing to climate change by making serious, significant commitments to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions. And the US must provide significant assistance to those who will be harmed as a result of climate change.

While the US has a responsibility to address adaptation needs here at home, it also has a strong national interest in tackling this problem globally. Climate change will lead to food insecurity, water shortages, and disease, and it has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Reports suggest that international conflicts are likely to be exacerbated as a result of increased competition for scarce natural resources. Providing assistance for adaptation efforts will help to reduce the ultimate burden faced by the US in responding to crises around the world.

Where will the money come from?

As the largest economy in the world, as well as one of the largest historical producers of greenhouse gas emissions, the US has a responsibility to help poor countries adapt to the climate change we have caused. But we must find new money to help the poorest people adapt; it must not be diverted from our already overstretched aid budgets for developing countries.

A new national climate change legislation that installs a cap-and-trade system could raise these much- needed funds. A well-designed cap-and-trade system would sell allowances to polluters through an auction and make them pay for their pollution. The revenue from selling pollution allowances could then be invested in programs that support lower income households, help poor communities in developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, and fund clean energy technologies to help reduce global warming pollution and provide energy access to poor communities.

Other climate measures, such as carbon taxes or shifts in fossil fuel subsidies, could also help provide funding for adaptation needs.

How exactly does a cap-and-trade system work?

Most of the bills currently being introduced in Congress, including America’s Climate Security Act, will establish a cap-and-trade system to reduce the emissions that cause global warming. Under a cap-and-trade system, a “cap,” or a limit on the total amount that countries can pollute, is established. Total emissions allowed under the cap are then divided into individual permits.

Because the cap restricts the amount of carbon that can be emitted, the permits take on a financial value. This is where trading comes in. Companies that do not have enough permits must either cut their emissions or buy spare permits from others. Companies that pollute more will require more permits and will have the option of buying them from cleaner sources and therefore paying the facilities that can reduce their emissions more cheaply. The effect is to decrease emissions at the lowest cost while allowing entities flexibility in meeting the cap.

How can a cap-and-trade system benefit poor people?

A big part of the debate regarding how to structure a cap-and-trade system is focused on how permits, or allowances, should be distributed to regulated entities. This can be facilitated by giving the allowances away to entities for free or administering an auction. A well-designed cap-and-trade system would sell allowances to polluters through an auction and make them pay for their pollution. Such auctions level the playing field, as dirtier and less efficient energy producers will have to purchase more allowances to have the right to pollute.

The revenue from selling pollution allowances could then be invested in programs that support lower income households, help poor communities in developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, and fund clean energy technologies to help reduce global warming pollution and provide energy access to poor communities.

Does it matter how adaptation is funded?

Yes, it matters a great deal whether adaptation funding is provided fairly and effectively. Oxfam supports the following principles for the delivery and implementation of adaptation funding:

Accountability. Governments and international agencies must be held accountable for the fair and equitable distribution of adaptation resources.
Transparency. The decision-making process for how adaptation funds are managed and allocated must be transparent and involve local communities.
Country ownership. Country governments and local communities must be fully engaged in the process of designing and implementing adaptation programs and projects.
Community engagement. Local communities, who already have the indigenous knowledge necessary to build resiliency, must be at the center of designing and implementing effective adaptation strategies.
Capacity building. Adaptation funding must support development goals, such as improving livelihoods and human health. This funding must also enhance institutional systems so that communities have the capacity to respond when disaster strikes.
Measurability. Good adaptation projects and programs must be ones that can be monitored and evaluated in terms of their success at the community level.

How is climate change an issue of security?

As populations increase in some of the world’s poorest countries, a harsher climate can lead to migration; refugee crises; and conflicts over scarce natural resources, including land and water. Long-term economic destabilization in developing countries can also further undermine stability and security.

In 2007, a panel of retired US generals and admirals released a report (“National Security and the Threat of Climate Change,” available at www.securityandclimate.cna.org) that highlights climate change as a serious national security threat to the US. The report outlines how “climate change acts as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world,” and it calls on the US to help stabilize the climate at levels that will “avoid significant disruption to global security and stability.” The report also calls on the US to “commit to global partnerships that help developing countries build the capacity and resiliency to better manage climate impacts” to help avoid state and regional destabilization. Engaging in ongoing multilateral efforts to tackle adaptation will be one critical way for the US to ensure that climate change does not threaten global as well as US security.

How does climate change impact women?

Women in poor communities and countries are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change: they often depend on rainfall (instead of irrigation) to water their crops; they are typically responsible for providing their household’s water, food, and fuel supply; and they are less likely to have the education, opportunities, and resources they need to adapt to the impacts of climate change. In addition, women’s traditional role as caretakers means they have little time for taking part in community discussions, so their perspectives and needs are often not heard.

At the same time, many women in both rich and poor countries are powerful in their roles as consumers and citizens. Many are aware of the importance of protecting the environment for future generations. Their role in the household means they have a valuable influence over their households’ consumption patterns and lifestyle choices. And when women create networks and organizations, they can be a powerful force for social and political change.

Why is US climate legislation important?

Congress must act now to take leadership on the issue of global warming. Even as cities, states, and some companies begin to take action to reduce emissions, without federal legislation, global warming pollution will continue to rise in the US.

Federal legislation might also give the US the chance to influence global negotiations on climate change, a move that could strengthen our relationships—and reputation—abroad.

Does Oxfam support America’s Climate Security Act (Lieberman-Warner)?

There are a number of proposals on climate change currently under consideration in Congress. America's Climate Security Act, introduced by US Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and John Warner (R-VA), is the most prominent at the moment. While the legislation takes some steps forward in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, it also marks the first significant US endeavor to assist poor people around the world in dealing with the impacts of global warming. The proposed legislation would use revenue from the auction of greenhouse gas emission permits to provide assistance to vulnerable developing countries to enable them to adapt to climate change impacts. This would generate approximately $1 billion a year for adaptation funding at the outset of the program, increasing over time.

The world’s poorest people should receive funding to help them adapt to severe climate changes, and Oxfam supports providing this funding to vulnerable communities by using the revenue from auctioning permits for greenhouse gas emissions.

Legislative efforts like America’s Climate Security Act are important, as they move the debate on climate change forward. Oxfam hopes that Congress will build on this legislation by ensuring that ambitious cuts are made in harmful greenhouse gases and that robust adaptation assistance is provided to respond to the damage that is caused by climate change in the context of global poverty. Congress should also ensure that major greenhouse gas-emitting sectors take responsibility by paying for adaptation needs for vulnerable communities around the world and in the US, helping to provide funding for a shift to clean energy in developing countries, and neutralizing impacts on low-income energy consumers who may face higher energy costs as emissions are cut.

Even if all developed countries reduce their emissions substantially, global greenhouse gas emissions will still be at levels you say could cause dangerous climate change because of emissions from developing countries. What should developing countries do to contribute to the solution? Should they take on binding emission reduction targets and other measures?

Developing countries are already taking strong actions to reduce their emissions—stronger in many ways than the US. Taken together, the efforts of China, India, and Brazil could in fact result in a greater reduction in emissions than what the European Union has pledged to do in the 2020 time frame. At the recent UN negotiations in Bali, developing countries took a large step forward by being willing to take measurable, reportable, and verifiable mitigation actions. They went further than they had in the past, recognizing that all countries will need to make appropriate contributions to the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The US needs to take a leadership role in enabling developing countries to be a part of the solution, both by providing the technological and financial support that these countries need and by leading the way through the reduction of its own emissions.

Why should the US stop polluting if China and India won’t?

While some big developing countries have been increasingly producing greenhouse gas emissions, they are not among those countries most historically responsible for causing the climate change that has happened thus far. The US can and should play a global leadership role in addressing climate change.

Meanwhile, large developing countries such as China and India will have to play an important part in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions because of their size and rapidly rising emissions. Any global agreement should address the role played by those countries, but it must also account for the imbalance of wealth and resources between developing countries and rich ones. While countries like China and India may have high levels of total emissions, their emissions per person, or per capita emissions, are far less than those in the US. For example, per capita emissions in the US, Australia, and Canada are six times those of China and 13 times those of India.

As a global leader, the US must also act to help developing countries advance to clean energy technologies. Funding and other tools should be provided to developing countries to aid them in shifting to green, sustainable energy pathways.

What is Oxfam’s position on wind power, biofuels, nuclear power, hydropower, and clean coal?

Clean energy sources, such as wind power, can help us reduce our carbon emissions, as well as our dependence on oil. But no currently available options are a replacement for the urgently needed changes in our consumption habits. The climate impacts of some energy sources, such as biofuels, will depend on the manner in which they are produced or used. The actual carbon savings of biofuels vary depending on the type of crop used to provide a particular biofuel and how it is produced. Reigning in our fossil fuel-obsessed consumption habits must be coupled with devoting resources to the development of more efficient systems and cleaner technologies.

How can companies help poor people here and abroad who are affected by climate change impacts?

As large energy consumers and generators of greenhouse gas emissions, companies have a responsibility to minimize their impact by reducing emissions and by helping vulnerable communities manage climate risks. Companies of all sizes are already recognizing the importance of climate change and are taking action.

Multinational corporations are growing increasingly aware of the risks posed to their core business operations by climate change impacts. Many companies source from and sell to developing countries, which are already experiencing worsening disasters, massive infrastructure damage, and decreased agricultural productivity. Companies doing business with developing countries may themselves be vulnerable to these and other climate change impacts. Because companies depend on local communities, as both employees and consumers, they should collaborate with local stakeholders in their efforts to adapt to climate change. By providing resources, products, and services that are needed for climate change adaptation, businesses can help build community resilience, which will also help ensure the stability of both supply chains and future markets.

What is Oxfam doing to reduce its own carbon footprint?

We at Oxfam America are talking the talk, but we also aim to walk the walk. Oxfam America’s staff members and board have deep personal commitments to respecting the planet and resources that sustain us, and we want to be externally and internally accountable to this mission. As an international organization with offices on a number of continents, we’re committed to reducing our own carbon footprint and becoming a low-carbon consumer. We are currently in the midst of an organization-wide carbon footprint study to give us a clearer understanding of our own emissions and what we can do to curb them. In addition, we are already putting in place practices that reduce our emissions, such as using recycled paper and investing in video-conferencing technology.