A report of Christian Aid reveals drought is a present danger to some of the poorest people in the world and it threatens their lives and livelihoods, from Harare in Zimbabwe to London and the South East.
In a recent press release on the report
the organization says without action to cut emissions and better management of
freshwater resources, Christian Aid warns the toll will be felt acutely by the
poor. Christian Aid is calling for and an international fund to pay for climate
caused loss and damage.
The report is supported by polling that shows UK public believe that rich
countries should pay to mitigate the impact of drought (36%) while almost half
(49%) of adults are now concerned about the impact of drought on people in the
UK.
As a heatwave heads to the UK, and Indian cities battle with record
temperatures, a new report from Christian Aid highlights how the climate crisis
is increasing the severity of drought in ten of the world’s major cities and
demands an international fund to pay for climate caused loss and damage.
Despite covering more than 70% of the earth’s surface, only 3% of the world’s
water is suitable for drinking. Of this fresh water, 70% is locked in glaciers
and ice caps. Less than 0.01% of all fresh water worldwide is available for
human use in lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Despite this, Christian Aid analysis
shows global water use grew at more than twice the rate of population increases
over the course of the 20th century.
Just last month, there was water rationing in the Chilean capital, Santiago and
people have been queuing for water in New Delhi where temperatures have got so
high that heatstroke is a risk even without doing any physical activity. In
2018, after extended drought, Cape Town came within days of becoming the first
major city in the world to run out of water. ‘Day Zero’, when the taps for 4
million inhabitants would be turned off, was averted after emergency measures
were implemented to cut the city’s water usage by 50%.
Even in the UK, London has experienced heatwaves in recent years and the CEO of
the Environment Agency, James Bevan, warned that within 25 years London and the
South East of England could run out of water. The cost of a severe drought to
London’s economy is estimated by Thames Water to be £330m per day, and would
have severe economic, social and environmental consequences. The Environment
Agency has said that by 2050 some rivers will see 50%-80% less water during the
summer months.
The report – Scorched Earth: The impact of drought on 10 world cities – has
been published alongside new polling by Savanta, commissioned by Christian Aid.
The data reveals that given several options, a plurality of the UK public
believe that rich countries should pay to mitigate the impact of drought (36%).
The data also reveals nearly 6 in 10 (57%) people see the connection between
their own actions and drought, but less than 3 in 10 (27%) see the connection
and are spurred into action.
With heatwaves hitting the UK in recent years, almost half (49%) of adults
across the UK are now concerned about the impact of drought on people in the
UK. Despite this, over 6 in 10 (64%) agree that they have never seen information
about how to protect themselves from it.
The ten cities featured in the report, publishes on the eve of Christian Aid
Week, are Sydney, Harare, Sao Paulo, Phoenix, Beijing, Kabul, New Delhi, Cape
Town, Cairo and London. The danger of city droughts are only set to get worse
without action to address climate change. Currently, 55% of the world’s
population lives in urban areas, with this set to rise to 68% by
2050.
Without action to cut emissions and better management of freshwater resources,
Christian Aid warns the toll will be felt acutely by the poor. According to the
UN, lower-income city residents can pay up to 50 times more for a litre of
water than their wealthier neighbours because they often have to buy from
private vendors. Cities in poorer countries are also far more vulnerable than
those in richer countries as they have fewer resources to adapt to the water
shortages.
The co-author of the report, Christian Aid’s Nushrat Rahman Chowdhury said, “Drought
is not new but its intensity and frequency have increased over the last thirty
years due to global warming. It is a
real danger; it threatens lives and livelihoods of some of the poorest people
in the world. These are communities which have done the least to cause the
climate crisis. This is the reality known as loss and damage.
To address this injustice, we not only need emissions cut but also
provide financial support for those losses which cannot be adapted to. That is
why, at this year’s UN climate talks in Egypt, we are calling for the creation
of a loss and damage finance facility to be a major priority.
Dr Friederike Otto, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Grantham
Institute, Imperial College London, carried out a study into the 2018 drought
in Cape Town. She added:
"Changing rainfall and higher temperatures - the result of greenhouse gas
emissions - are making drought more common and more severe in parts of the
world. As we saw in Cape Town, when it nearly reached Day Zero in 2018, this
can add up to catastrophic water shortages even for some major
cities.
“Our study of that event found climate change made the drought about three
times more likely to occur. Until net greenhouse gas emissions are halted, the
risk of drought threatening cities' water supply will keep growing."
Graham Knott, CEng, MCIWEM, a retired water and environmental engineer,
said:
“Lack of a reliable supply of clean water, made worse by the impacts of climate
change, is affecting cities in many different ways: we’re currently seeing terrible
suffering in New Delhi due to droughts and heatwaves.
"Higher temperatures, combined with the growing levels of demand from
cities make our precious freshwater resources extremely vulnerable. Even London
and the southeast of England face water shortages in coming years if we don’t
tackle climate change and adapt to its impacts by better managing our water
resources and infrastructure.
“Set against this many cities have seen significant increases in damaging and
fatal floods. Durban, South Africa, and even the desert cities of Saudi
Arabia have recently suffered from significant flooding. Unchecked
pollution of even the clean water we have makes things even worse.
"Without action and adaptation, climate change threatens to affect many
things we currently take for granted.”
Mohamed Adow, Director of Nairobi-based climate and energy think tank, Power
Shift Africa, said:
“This is an important report which highlights the growing menace of urban
drought. With more and more people living in cities, this is already becoming
a major consequence of the climate crisis which will affect millions of
people. Here in Africa we bear the brunt of this climate emergency, so we are
acutely aware of the value and importance of water and what happens if we run
out. This year’s COP27 climate talks will be taking place in Egypt, a country
already facing the prospect of water shortages. It is vital that at these
talks leaders come prepared with plans to cut emissions and provide the finance
and support to help communities facing drought.”
Ukraine
The report also highlights the impact that drought is having in driving
conflict, and in particular, in Crimea, the part of Ukraine annexed by Russia
in 2014. The region is vulnerable to climate change and since the
annexation Ukraine protested by diverting the North-Crimea Channel which
provides 85% of Crimea’s water, sparking tensions in Russia and with prominent
politicians like Konstantin Zatulin calling for a more aggressive foreign
policy towards Ukraine.
“Research by the Pacific Institute has shown that conflicts over water, both
within countries and between countries, are sharply increasing. In the 29 years
between 1960-1989 there was 1.27 per year. But in the 27 years between 1990-2007
there was 4.61 per year.”
A case study by Janet
Zirugo is also added with the press release:
In Zimbabwe, drought and erratic rainfall have made growing food a yearly
challenge. Janet Zirugo, 70, has experienced the impact of climate change
first hand. She said:
“We have a challenge of rainfall, and a challenge of hunger. There will be no
good crops in our fields. There would be no water to water our gardens. For our
livestock to get drinking water, they won’t get it. The biggest change is
on rainfall patterns. Long back we used to know that when the rains fall in
October, we would know that the rain season has started for sure. We then went
to the fields to plough. Nowadays we have to wait either we plough in November
or December.”
She said drought has been a major driver of hardship and hunger for her
children:
“When I made the meal I gave it to children, then remove the dog’s share and
put it down for the dogs. Children would pick the dog’s meal from the ground
because they were not full. We ate things which could not be eaten in normal
times. These challenges had been brought about by the drought. Rains had not
fallen, these things I cannot forget. Because if you see a child picks dog’s
food, the situation had reached unbearable proportions.”
About Christian Aid
Christia Aid has more than 70 years’ experience of working in
partnership to support communities to thrive. The organisation tackles the root
causes of poverty so that women, men and children the world over are
strengthened against future knocks. And if disasters happen, Christian Aid gets
people the help they want straight away.
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