Time to face reality of climate change on developing world says Christian agency

-04/09/06


Time to face reality of climate change on developing world says Christian agency

-04/09/06

Christian aid agency Tearfund has said it is time for politicians to ‘put their money where their mouths are’ and face up to the realities of climate change for those in the developing world.

The comments came as Frances Cairncross, chair of the Economic and Social Research Council, gave the Presidential Address to the British Association of the Advancement of Science on climate change and adaptation as part of the BA Festival of Science in Norwich.

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She said: ìAdaptation policies have had far less attention than mitigation, and that is a mistakeÖwe need to think now about policies that prepare for a hotter, drier world, especially in poorer countries. That may involve, for instance, developing new crops, constructing flood defences, setting different building regulations, or banning building close to sea level.î

Andy Atkins is Policy Director of Tearfund, a leading UK relief and development charity which is already working with poorer people in the developing world on adapting to climate change. Tearfund is working with partners in Malawi, Bangladesh, Honduras, Ethiopia, India and many other places to help people adapt to the devastating effects of climate change which threaten to wipe out any progress made against the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr Atkins said: ìTearfund is already working with poor communities to help them adapt to climate change. Tearfund believes that the rich worldís scant investment in adaptation in vulnerable countries is illogical and indefensible. It makes no moral or economic sense to ignore the urgent need for this when it is clear that it saves lives, livelihoods, and helps to safeguard progress with poverty reduction. It is time for politicians to put their money where their mouths are.î

Tearfund was one of three Christian aid agencies who last year joined the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, a new alliance which aims to create ‘an irresistible public mandate for political action’.

Between them, the three church agencies represent the great majority of Christians in Britain, spanning the evangelical, ecumenical and Catholic constituencies. They were also involved a year before in publishing a report, Up in Smoke, to highlight the need for global warming targets.

The general secretaries of the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation have also urged political leaders across the globe to heed the danger that climate change could pose in triggering disasters like the Asian tsunami.


Time to face reality of climate change on developing world says Christian agency

-04/09/06

Christian aid agency Tearfund has said it is time for politicians to ‘put their money where their mouths are’ and face up to the realities of climate change for those in the developing world.

The comments came as Frances Cairncross, chair of the Economic and Social Research Council, gave the Presidential Address to the British Association of the Advancement of Science on climate change and adaptation as part of the BA Festival of Science in Norwich.

Related Articles

She said: ìAdaptation policies have had far less attention than mitigation, and that is a mistakeÖwe need to think now about policies that prepare for a hotter, drier world, especially in poorer countries. That may involve, for instance, developing new crops, constructing flood defences, setting different building regulations, or banning building close to sea level.î

Andy Atkins is Policy Director of Tearfund, a leading UK relief and development charity which is already working with poorer people in the developing world on adapting to climate change. Tearfund is working with partners in Malawi, Bangladesh, Honduras, Ethiopia, India and many other places to help people adapt to the devastating effects of climate change which threaten to wipe out any progress made against the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr Atkins said: ìTearfund is already working with poor communities to help them adapt to climate change. Tearfund believes that the rich worldís scant investment in adaptation in vulnerable countries is illogical and indefensible. It makes no moral or economic sense to ignore the urgent need for this when it is clear that it saves lives, livelihoods, and helps to safeguard progress with poverty reduction. It is time for politicians to put their money where their mouths are.î

Tearfund was one of three Christian aid agencies who last year joined the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, a new alliance which aims to create ‘an irresistible public mandate for political action’.

Between them, the three church agencies represent the great majority of Christians in Britain, spanning the evangelical, ecumenical and Catholic constituencies. They were also involved a year before in publishing a report, Up in Smoke, to highlight the need for global warming targets.

The general secretaries of the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation have also urged political leaders across the globe to heed the danger that climate change could pose in triggering disasters like the Asian tsunami.