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 20 July 2008 18:30 BST

Climate change warning to African aid efforts

Sunday, 29 Oct 2006 08:41
Dangerous climate changes are making aid projects in Africa more difficult

Science In Focus 

Humanitarian aid efforts in some of Africa's poorest countries are being undermined by "dangerous" changes in the continent's climate, a report says.

Today's study, entitled Up in Smoke 2, from 21 separate UK-based development and environment agencies says that rising global greenhouse gas emissions have made Africa 0.5C warmer compared to less than a century ago, while temperatures in countries such as Kenya have risen 3.5C in the last 20 years.

The report, which includes contributions from Cafod, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the New Economics Foundation (Nef), Oxfam and WWF among others, says that climate chance is placing extra strain on already sparse water resources.

Its authors say that industrialised countries must back up the promises they made at Kyoto and cut greenhouse gas emissions by between 60 and 90 per cent.

"Africa is the continent probably most vulnerable of all to the negative effects of climate change, and the one that faces the greatest challenges to adapt.

"Climatic unpredictability increases the pressure on people's lives and livelihoods from poverty, HIV/Aids and government neglect. Women and rural societies, especially pastoralists, are under the greatest stresses," they write.

According to research in the report, one-third of sub-Saharan Africans are under nourished, while this proportion rises to above half in central Africa.

The world is failing to meet the challenges of climate change in Africa, the report says, and calls on humanitarian aid projects to reflect the dramatic changes that have occurred in the past 100 years and continue to take place.

"The coalition concludes that Africa urgently needs a new model for human progress and development that is climate proof and climate friendly and gives everyone a fair share of the natural resources on which we all depend, and that unless the international community takes urgent action to reduce emissions their efforts to end poverty in Africa will go up in smoke."End of story


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