Commonwealth spotlight on climate crisis

Transcription

1 Commonwealth spotlight on climate crisis LONDON- It is impossible to understate the significance of global warming to the Commonwealth family of nations. Almost two thirds of the world s population 2.1 billion people live within its 54 member states, many of them in areas widely accepted by the scientific community to be the most vulnerable to climate change. Africa, the sub continent, the Pacific none are the biggest contributors to the man-made greenhouse concentrations that threaten the world and yet all are in the line of impact for the moment when climate systems reach the so-called tipping point when even tiny changes can unleash catastrophic effects. This is already a reality in the Horn of Africa and nearby Kenya where emergency relief workers are becoming increasingly alarmed at the scale of a brewing crisis as months of dry weather threaten a new famine and humanitarian disaster. The United Nations fear that up to 11 million people in the region will soon need emergency food aid as the drought reaches a severity not seen since the 1950s. Two years ago, the former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, put the issue into stark perspective in the report of the Global Humanitarian Forum. Climate change, he reported, is already costing economic losses of $US125 million a year more than world aid: Floods, droughts, loss of livestock, disease, declining fish stocks and agricultural yields, have already seriously affected 325 million people; a further 500 million people are at extreme risk; 300,000 are already dying every year as a result of the effects of climate change. And last year, the communiqué of the third international parliamentary conference on climate change - hosted by the UK Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA UK) reported that the cost of mitigating climate change is now estimated at two per cent of global GDP, which is far below the cost of inaction predicted by experts to be between five and 20 per cent of global GDP. Few would argue that the effects of climate change are already being felt and it is those who are the poorest and the most vulnerable that are in line for the worst effects. For the Commonwealth of 54 nations, the diversity and breadth of climate change impact is immeasurable, from unpredictable seasonal rain for farmers to severe drought, from flash flooding and

2 temperature rises to sea level increases that threaten the very existence of small nations and island states. Growing seasons, for example, will be prolonged in northern areas because of increased temperatures but will be severely curtailed in southern areas. Water evaporation and the loss of glacier melt will affect crop yields leading to dramatic rises in the cost of food which in turn can spark civil unrest and political instability. Extreme weather events from cyclones and hurricanes, and flooding to drought, will become more commonplace affecting not only national economies but living conditions, the threat of disease, erosion and land degradation. And yet the Commonwealth is regarded internationally as an important and unique forum to establish consensus on the climate change issue, giving voice to members of developed industrial states like Britain and Australia and emerging economic giants like India along with the less wealthy, smaller low-lying nations most likely to be the first affected by sea level changes. The Copenhagen Accord clearly highlighted the special vulnerability of developing countries, both in Africa and Southeast Asia and their special fragility in the face of climate change due to their dependence on climate-sensitive industries such as agriculture, fishery and forestry. They are also much more limited in their ability to respond with economic or social levers. These smaller nations have pointed out with some force too that the causes for the crisis lie more with the developed, industrialised world and it is they who should bear the brunt of the cost. In the shortest term however, it is the so-called 'climate frontline states' such as the Maldives, Tuvalu and Kiribati for whom mitigating climate change is a matter of immediate survival. As the Commonwealth Secretary General, HE Kamalesh Sharma says: ''Climate change poses a serious and profound risk to us and to future generations. If we don't act now, present and future generations will not forgive us.'' According to the UN, there are 52 small island states in the Caribbean, Indian and Pacific oceans which are low lying, remote and the most vulnerable to natural climate change events such as sea level rises. Their unique problems are compounded by small populations, limited land area and narrow economies of scale which curtail their ability to respond to problems, unlike larger nations which benefit from more diverse markets and greater access to technology.

3 Last month, the Small Island and Developing States (SIDS) study group convened by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, together with the Commonwealth Secretariat and World Bank Institute recommended that a major challenge needing quick response lies with communication: local communities need a clearer explanation and understanding about climate change. The effects of global warming must be expressed tangibly, with clear, geographically appropriate examples of its impact. The lack of rainfall, the risk of flash floods, longer droughts, loss of crops and houses as well as ill health must be used to illustrate the urgency of the problem and it is incumbent on national leaders and elected representatives to take the lead in communicating with their communities. MPs are uniquely placed in this debate because they have the dual ability to communicate directly with their constituencies and help improve understanding of climate change as well as contribute to policy decisions at a national level, placing pressure on the political leadership and holding them to account. From ministers to backbenchers to councilors in smaller, provincial legislatures the responsibilities to hold leaders to account is imperative. The UK Parliament s Committee on Climate Change is a litmus test for how this can be done. Its first act was to recommend an 80 per cent education plan for the UK by 2050 which has been adopted by the Parliament along with five-year carbon budgets which have been approved for the next 15 years. Similar models are being adopted in smaller nations where parliamentarians are also being urged to form cross-party parliamentary climate change policy groups to improve oversight committees and strengthen accountability. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association has been at the forefront of this work, hosting a series of conferences to spark and foster discussion among its membership over in recent years. In 2007, climate change was highlighted at a meeting of the Commonwealth Consultative Group on the Environment, placing on the international agenda the plea from the smaller, vulnerable nations such as the Maldives, Uganda, Gambia, Ghana, the Seychelles, Tuvalu, Bangladesh and Grenada who urgently needed more attention on their problems and strategic help in building a cadre of skills to help them meet an issue which had already begun to affect their daily lives. The first International Parliamentary Conference on Climate Change hosted by the CPA UK was held later that same year and attended

4 by 80 parliamentarians to tackle the causes and manage the impacts of climate change. Since then, there have been two more conferences; the one in 2010 was attended by more than 100 parliamentarians. The Commonwealth s Climate Change Action Plan, reaffirmed by the 2009 Climate Change Consensus, produced the Copenhagen Launch Fund, which started in 2010 and aims to build resources to $10 billion annually by While the CPA UK s Toolkit for Parliamentarians, produced last year and to be provided to all delegates at the 57 th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) in London - is a comprehensive outline of the issues facing Commonwealth nations together with a package of policy measures covering the gamut of issues, from transport, buildings, industry, agriculture and forestry to waste management and energy supply. Recommendations are diverse and range from taxation measures to the introduction of tradable permits, financial incentives and benchmarking standards. The toolkit acknowledges that in complex issues such as global warming, one size does not fit all. The toolkit does not baulk from scrutinising the potential for climate change issues to ignite security and social unrest, particularly in developing nations. Bangladesh, Kenya, the Nile region, Sudan and South Pacific are particularly vulnerable and a study by International Alert has warned that there are 46 countries where climate change could contribute to social unrest and violence and 56 where it could lead to political unrest. The creation of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Task Force on Climate Change, a network which enables jurisdictions and regions to better share and disseminate information about tackling climate change, is up and running while the Eminent Persons Group s report on the way forward for the Commonwealth is poised to propose formally the possibility of new partnerships between the Commonwealth, the World Bank and other international bodies to create specific initiatives and programs of support to vulnerable economies. Delegates to the 57 th annual CPC in London will work together to discuss and hone programs which the Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma warns must be swift and collective. Parliamentarians, he has urged, have a strategic and pivotal role to play in building the political resolve needed to embark on strong, multilateral action. The necessary regulatory frameworks on the domestic front need effective communication to harness support.

5 Citizens are looking to their political representatives to show both visionary and consequential dedication to public policy responses and a long-term commitment on climate change. Within parliament, you can ensure that climate change is taken into account across all areas of government.