Studie des Roten Kreuzes, 17.11.2020 (engl. Originalfassung)
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable the world is to a truly global catastrophe. But another, bigger, catastrophe has been building for many decades, and humanity is still lagging far behind in efforts to address it, as communities and countries still need to adapt to its realities.
The impacts of global warming are already killing people and devastating lives and livelihoods every year, and they will only get worse without immediate and determined action. The frequency and intensity of climatological events are increasing substantially, with more category 4 and 5 storms, more heatwaves breaking temperature records and more heavy rains, among many other extremes. Loss of natural resources, food insecurity, direct and indirect health impacts and displacement are likewise on the rise. Many communities are being affected by concurrent and consecutive disasters, leaving them with little time to recover before the next shock arrives. The most at-risk people in these communities are in danger of being left behind if their needs and capacities are not understood, and their voices not heard.
The massive stimulus packages that are being developed around the world in response to COVID-19 are an opportunity to build back better – not only with a green recovery but an adaptive one, using funds to invest in making communities safer and more resilient.
The resources we need to adapt to current and imminent climate-driven disaster risks are within reach. As an example, it would take an estimated 50 billion US dollars (around 49 billion Swiss francs) annually to meet the adaptation requirements set out by 50 developing countries for the coming decade. This amount is dwarfed by the global response to the economic impact of COVID-19 which has already passed 10 trillion US dollars (approximately 9.8 trillion Swiss francs), including a 750 billion Euro (802 billion Swiss franc) COVID-19 economic bailout scheme agreed by EU leaders in July 2020, and a 2.2 trillion US dollar (2.1 trillion Swiss franc) COVID-19 stimulus bill adopted by the USA in March. This money should be used for the essential task of creating jobs, whilst at the same time also facilitating a green, inclusive and resilient recovery.
It is also critical to use available resources well – headlines about millions and billions of dollars should not distract us from ensuring that what is allocated is best spent for those people who need it most. At present, the available funding for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction does not seem to consistently prioritize the countries at highest risk and with the lowest ability to adapt and cope with these risks.
While higher volumes of funding do often go to countries facing the highest levels of vulnerability to disaster risk and climate change, this is not consistently the case. Many highly vulnerable countries are left behind, receiving little climate change adaptation support.
The analysis presented in World Disasters Report 2020 shows that none of the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change (according to ND-GAIN) and to climate- and weather-related disasters (according to INFORM) were among the 20 highest per person recipients of climate change adaptation funding. Somalia, the most vulnerable, ranks only 71st for per person funding disbursements. None of the countries with the five highest disbursements had high or very high vulnerability scores. At the other end of the spectrum, 38 high vulnerability countries (out of 60) and 5 very high vulnerability countries (out of 8) received less than $1 per person in climate adaptation funding, while two (Central African Republic and DPRK) received no disbursements at all. Notably, none of the largest five recipients are fragile contexts.
An additional challenge is ensuring that funding reaches the most at-risk people within these countries. Many communities may be particularly vulnerable to climate-related risks, from people affected by conflict whose capacity to manage shocks is already strained, to migrants and displaced people who may struggle to access the services and assistance they need, to urban poor people and other marginalized communities. Support needs to reach these communities most vulnerable to climate-related risks as a priority.
The issues are not only financial. The report argues it is time to shake off business as usual and turn words into action. Much of what needs to be done has been known for years – it is just overdue in implementation. But we also need to scale up some new lessons learned more recently from our changed environment. Fundamentally, we need to ensure that we are implementing the intertwined commitments in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 in a joined-up way. And we must do a much better job of ensuring that all actors – including governments, donors, the humanitarian, development, climate and environmental sectors – prioritize support for the people, communities and countries most at risk.
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