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By R K Pachauri*

Climate change and its impacts are of great relevance to communities which are
living in a state of poverty. In general, poor people are greatly dependent on ecosystem
services, and any degradation or damage to ecosystems on any account would adversely
affect their livelihoods. It has now been established, particularly with the findings of the
Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) that the impacts of climate change, while varied in nature, are likely to be
particularly negative for some regions of the world. As it happens, these regions such as
sub-Saharan Africa, parts of South Asia, as well as some locations in Latin America are
precisely the regions where a large number of poor people reside.

In specific terms, the impacts of climate change would be of direct relevance in

respect of growing water stress in some of these locations, adverse impacts on forests and
biodiversity, lower yields in agriculture, particularly in those locations where dependence
on rainfed irrigation is particularly high, as well as adverse health impacts of climate
change. Water stress is already a reality in some parts of the world, and climate change is
likely to exacerbate existing conditions. The AR4 projected that, by 2020, there could be
75 ± 250 million people in Africa who would be living in conditions of water stress.
Studies carried out by TERI as part of its GREEN India project, indicate a sharp
reduction in per capita water availability in India by the middle of this century. The AR4
has also found an increase in extreme participation events as well as the frequency and
intensity of heat waves. Floods and droughts are also on the increase.

In the year 2003, there was a severe heat wave in the state of Andhra Pradesh, as a
result of which almost 4,000 lives were recorded to have been lost. An investigation into
the morbidity and mortality that took place as a result revealed glaring institutional
weaknesses. For instance, there was no early warning system in place, which could
easily have been improvised using television, radio as well as cellular telephone services,
all of which have extensive reach in the affected areas. Not only could warnings about
the impending heat wave have been conveyed, but clear instructions and advice could
have been provided to those who were susceptible to being affected. This could have
taken the shape of advice on oral rehydration therapy and simple medical precautions by
which lives could have been saved and acute physical effects avoided.

The impacts of climate change include the possibility of increased floods,

droughts, heat waves, extreme precipitation events and sea-level rise in different parts of
the world. A coordinated response involving adaptation to all these impacts would most
prominently require building capacity among local communities and setting out plans
which could be implemented on a decentralized basis. However, it is not enough to focus
on local initiatives in adaptation, because in some cases effective measures at the national
and regional levels would be an important part of response strategies. For instance, in the
case of rainfed agriculture, which hundreds of millions of farmers across the world are
constrained to practice, infrastructure for storage and supply of water may require
national decisions and initiatives. Effective research and development to come up with
drought-resistant varieties of crops, changes in cropping patterns and agricultural
practices can be evolved only through large-scale research & development and extension
activities, which national governments are best equipped to undertake. Similarly, in the
case of growing water stress, investments in infrastructure for storage and well managed
supply of water can best be planned and implemented at the national or regional levels.
Very few countries have so far come up with well-defined adaptation strategies to reduce
the burden of climate change impacts on the poor. This is an area in which regional
development banks such as the ADB can play a useful role.

In the case of mitigation measures, quite apart from improvements in efficiency of

energy use, by which emissions of greenhouse gases can be reduced, there is also need to
identify co-benefits that would accrue from relevant and appropriate measures. A good
example of mitigation of emissions of GHGs is characterized by TERI¶s program on
Lighting a Billion Lives. Quite apart from the benefits accruing to poor communities,
currently not connected with the grid, there would be the development of entrepreneurial
capabilities at the grassroots level, health benefits from lower indoor pollution, and
enhanced employment opportunities, on account of lighting being an essential
prerequisite for longer working hours in such communities. Essentially, mitigation
measures can be justified in a number of cases, even when costs are higher than
conventional systems, on account of the positive externalities that these might produce.
Hence, here again the role of governments becomes an important catalyst and facilitator
for implementing mitigation programs for the poor with multiple benefits.

In general, it could be stated that considerable research needs to be carried out

involving poor communities in different parts of the world and how climate change
would impact on their livelihoods, the ecosystems on which they depend for critical
services and the availability of essential inputs like water. It is only on the basis of
proper knowledge and information that plans can be drawn up in the aggregate at the
national level and on a specific decentralized basis at the community level. The
widespread existence of poverty in the Asian region, particularly in South Asia, clearly
justifies adequate information collection and analysis to come up with appropriate
mitigation and adaptation measures for the benefit of the poor.

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