In its latest report, The Cost of Doing Nothing, the IFRC presents an analysis showing that if no urgent action is taken now, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance annually due to the climate crisis could double by 2050. Similarly, financial costs could balloon to 20 billion US dollars per year.
In contrast with this pessimistic scenario, the report also shows that, if appropriate climate adaptation measures are taken now, these figures could also stabilize, and even drop. By investing in climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction – building up resilience in communities, countries and regions at risk – and by improving early warning and anticipatory humanitarian action, the world can avoid a future marked by escalating suffering and ballooning response costs.
The OECD is made up of a group of primarily wealthy countries, who collectively set their own standards around big global issues like tax, trade and the environment. Despite being one of the world’s most influential trade bodies, decisions at the OECD often happen behind closed doors. Members say that this allows them to get on with ‘building better policies for better lives‘ without distraction. The problem is that channelling billions of dollars of public money into fossil fuels each year doesn’t square with that aim.
Hurricane Irma’s destruction of the Caribbean island opened the door for rampant development that threatens its unique ecosystems – but islanders are fighting back
Standing on a truck after a helicopter dash to the tiny airport of Barbuda in the wake of Hurricane Irma, prime minister Gaston Browne addressed the people. He declared all must leave the Caribbean island for their own safety as Hurricanes Jose and Maria were predicted to soon hit. Islanders would be allowed to return “when it was safe”.
It was 2017, and the destruction of Barbuda was reported worldwide to be “catastrophic”, with homes, infrastructure and livelihoods decimated and the inhabitants left in despair.
A state of emergency was declared and the evacuees restricted to the more populous sister island of Antigua for 30 days. Some islanders would never return. Browne said Barbuda was 95% destroyed and estimated it would take up to $300m (£245m) to rebuild. Within weeks, heavy machinery was at work on the construction site of a private airport for billionaire US investors who had luxury mansions and exclusive hotels already planned.
In 2018, two Barbudans obtained a temporary injunction on the construction of the airport, challenging its impact on the island’s fragile ecosystem. The Antiguan government responded by questioning whether the citizens’ had any legal right to make a challenge. The case reached appeal in 2021 with the focus on the legitimacy of the Barbudans to object to government plans for Barbudan land. In 2022, the court ruled they had no standing – or right. This week, the UK privy council is expected to make a final judgment over the issue. Antigua and Barbuda achieved independence from the UK in 1981, but remain in the Commonwealth with a constitutional monarchy under Charles III, so the privy council is the final court of appeal. The verdict could impact activists far beyond this tiny island, as a decision against the Barbudans could set a precedent across the Caribbean for citizens challenging governments’ perceived environmental violations.
Doctors from around the world unite to call for urgent climate action
Global health bodies are demanding international governments urgently phase out fossil fuels and fast-track renewable energy as health professionals increasingly see patients suffering from harm caused by climate change. The world’s leading GP and health bodies, representing more than three million health professionals worldwide, will deliver an open letter on Saturday calling for urgent action against climate change to protect the health of communities. “We the family doctors, doctors and health professionals of the world call on world leaders to take urgent action to safeguard the health of global populations from the climate crisis,” the open letter reads. Signatories from 39 leading health bodies, including Australia’s peak body for GPs and rural medicine, say they’re already seeing widespread impacts on human health caused by climate change in their patients.
JOINT DECLARATION: After months of wrangling, the Indian G20 presidency managed to secure a joint leaders’ declaration this week. The text included a pledge to “pursue and encourage efforts” to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, the Associated Press reported. The global goal, widely understood to mean 11,000 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, is “vital” to keeping 1.5C within reach, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in July. IEA chief Dr Fatih Birol told DeBriefed it was a “good step, but far from enough” (see Spotlight).
Democracy & Good Governance 