Some 189 million people are affected each year by extreme weather events in developing countries, the humanitarian organization Oxfam International warned on Monday.
This situation has occurred since 1991, the year in which it was first proposed to create a mechanism to respond to the costs of the effects of climate change in low-income countries, according to a report published by the NGO, based in Nairobi.
The study, titled “The Cost of Delay,” is produced by the Loss and Damage Collaboration, a group of more than 100 researchers, activists and policymakers from around the world, including Oxfam.
Since 1991, he underlines, 79% of deaths caused by extreme weather events have occurred in developing countries, where 97% of all affected people are found.
The analysis also shows that the number of extreme weather events and climate-related events has more than doubled in this period, with deaths reaching 676,000.
The report highlights how rich countries have repeatedly postponed efforts to provide developing countries with dedicated financing to meet the costs of a climate crisis for which they are not responsible.
The economic losses caused by climate change that 55 of the most vulnerable countries have suffered in the first twenty years of this century are estimated at 500,000 million dollars, while the benefits of fossil fuels have skyrocketed, leaving the poorest communities of the world “pay the bill,” he says.
The report also reveals that the profits from the fossil fuel sector between 2000 and 2019 could cover sixty times the cost of the losses caused by the climate crisis in 55 of the most vulnerable countries.
Financing for “loss and damage” – an expression to refer to the catastrophic effects of climate change that do not prevent mitigation and adaptation – will be a central issue at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) to be held in Egypt on next month.
“COP27 starts in just two weeks and funding must be agreed to respond to loss and damage,” said Lindsay Walsh, Oxfam’s climate policy adviser and co-author of the report.
Africa, for example, produces less than 4% of total greenhouse gas emissions and, according to the African Development Bank, loses between 5% and 15% of growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita due to climate change. climate.
“It is unfair that polluting countries, which are disproportionately responsible for increasing devastating climate effects, continue to reap mega-profits, while leaving countries vulnerable to climate change footing the bill for its repercussions,” Walsh added.