Climate Change Impacts on the Achievement of

the
Millennium Development Goals:
Can We Afford Not to Integrate?

September 2010

This paper was written by Mia McDonald with input from the teams at Realizing Rights,
GCAP and GCCA.
1. Introduction

Since the 2000 Millennium Summit and its immediate follow-up, the eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) have become a major framework for global development
policy, practice, and donor assistance. Over the past decade, progress toward meeting
the goals has been made, but has been uneven. Considerable work remains if the MDGs
are to be achieved by 2015. At the same time, the current and anticipated effects of
climate change1 threaten further progress on each of the MDGs. Millions of people,
particularly in the global south, increasingly experience multiple, negative climate
related impacts on their livelihoods and lives, and these are covered in detail in the
following sections. Indeed, climate change has the potential to reverse development
progress made over several decades, and the consequences will be felt not only by
those alive today, but by future generations as well.

Despite what is at stake, few national governments or multi-lateral institutions have

fully embraced the links between climate change and the MDGs. By contrast, many civil
society groups and community-based organizations (CBOs) across the world have
brought attention to the threats climate change poses to realization of the MDGs, and
advocated for concerted action. Still, policy priorities and funding for development and
climate change adaptation and mitigation have not yet been allied in fundamental
ways; in too many contexts, climate change is still a footnote to MDG implementation.

With only five years left to achieve the MDGs and following the failure of the 2009 UN
climate summit in Copenhagen to ratify a fair, ambitious, and binding climate deal, the
upcoming United Nations High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs in New York provides
an important—indeed essential—opportunity for agreement on a set of concrete, far-
reaching actions.

This publication does not aim to provide an exhaustive account of climate change’s
impacts on the MDGs, or a thorough assessment of progress toward the MDG targets.
Other institutions have produced excellent documentation on these issues. Rather, the
purpose of this report is to demonstrate the necessity of integrating policies and
practices to achieve the MDGs with those that address climate change, and to do so
with urgency.

Building on the experiences and recommendations of dozens of partners and members

of Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative, the Global Call to Action Against
Poverty (GCAP) and the Global Campaign on Climate Action (GCCA), we urge
governments, bilateral and multilateral development institutions, and donors at the UN
High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs to:

• Promote at national levels the increased integration of MDG planning,

monitoring, and reporting mechanisms with national adaptation programs of
action for climate change (NAPAs), as well as national poverty reduction
1
Article 1 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climate
change as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that
alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate
variability observed over comparable time periods.”
http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/518.htm

2
 strategies.
• Ensure that program tracking MDG progress at both global and country levels
take into account current and future impacts of climate change on achieving
and sustaining the MDGs, singly and as a whole. Given just five years are left
for MDG implementation, such measures should be put in place as soon as
possible.
• Re-emphasize in policy and practice the original target of addressing
greenhouse gas emissions the MDG 7 target to “integrate the principles of
sustainable development into country policies and program and reverse the
loss of environmental resources.”
• Adopt the principles of climate justice to guide national and global efforts to
ensure progress on the MDGs and to slow, and ultimately, reverse global
warming. This will require an assessment of current policies, programs and
financing, and should include broad consultation with civil society and
community-based organizations.
• Ensure the effective and meaningful participation of communities affected by
climate change in the design and implementation of adaptation and mitigation
programs.
• Build on the international human rights framework, rooted in equality and a
life of dignity for all, in all ongoing and new efforts to link implementation of
the MDGs within the context of the realities (current and expected) of climate
change.
• Prioritize funding and the transfer of skills and knowledge so that low-carbon
technologies on a broad, national scale are made available in developing
countries, with priority given to low-income households.
• Integrate inter-governmental dialogue on the MDGs with those on climate
change. This would entail creating a mechanism within global MDG planning
and reporting to track the effects of climate change on the MDGs, and a
similar mechanism within the UNFCCC.
• Commit to limiting the global average temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees
Celsius.
• Ensure that new and additional financial resources pledged for climate change
adaptation in developing countries are forthcoming, and put in place robust
mechanisms for climate finance that include innovative, new sources, such as
a financial transaction tax. Specifically, honor commitments for US $30 billion
annually by 2012, rising to US $100 billion annually by 2020. It should be
noted that funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation must be
committed in addition to current development assistance, including financial
resources directed to realization of the MDGs.

2. A Climate Justice Approach

Neither the impacts of climate change nor strategies for achieving the MDGs can be
addressed adequately without greater recognition of the disproportionate burden of
environmental changes in developing countries. The concept of climate justice seeks to
highlight this recognition and provide guidance on a better way forward. A climate
justice approach acknowledges that the burdens arising from climate change and the
costs of climate change adaptation and mitigation must be shared equitably, taking into
account the vastly different levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted historically and

3
currently by rich and poor nations. It recognizes that the world’s peoples have the right
to development, but economic development should occur in a sustainable manner that
does not contribute to further negative climatic changes. It demands that those most
affected by environmental changes, and least able to cope, such as those with limited
resources, assets, and status, must be genuine partners in all efforts to address climate
change. And the gender dimensions of climate change must be recognized, including
through policies and actions that address how natural resource deficits affect women’s
work and prospects for empowerment and ensure that women’s voices and priorities
are heard and responded to equally.

In terms of global and national policy-making, a climate justice approach means

building greater awareness amongst political leaders and the broader public about the
inter-connectedness of climate change with issues of development and social justice. All
efforts to address the threats posed by climate change must be carried out in ways that
buttress the principles of sustainable development. Climate justice also demands that
the rights, needs, and voices of those most affected by environmental changes—
particularly those living in poverty, the disempowered, the marginalized, women, and
indigenous peoples—be recognized, heard, and given priority in global debates on
mitigation and adaptation strategies. In addition, such strategies must target benefits
to, and address potential unintended negative consequences for, vulnerable and
marginalized groups.

A climate justice approach also means that development and transfer of low-carbon,
affordable, and appropriate technologies are scaled up to reach low-income households,
as well as countries as a whole. Global partnerships and a spirit of cooperation are key
to achieving climate justice, with campaigns, policies, and programs providing a
platform for solidarity and shared engagement. Finally, climate justice builds on a
foundation of human rights, with attention to accountability, equality, participation, and
transparency in the content of policies and in implementation processes.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Climate change is a human rights issue. Extreme weather and changes in

climatic conditions caused by rising global temperatures are undermining the
enjoyment of human rights, particularly for individuals and communities in the
most vulnerable situations: people living in poverty; those whose livelihoods
make them deeply reliant on their surrounding environment; those living on
marginal lands; those pushed to society’s edges due to their gender, ability, or
ethnicity; and those denied their full human rights, whose voices are ignored by
policy-makers and leaders at local, national, or global levels.

Climate change has and will continue to alter the natural environment in ways
that threaten rights to health, food, water, decent work, and even life. Ensuring
respect for human rights and building on the international rights framework,
rooted in equality and a life of dignity for all, points societies towards
internationally agreed values. It is around these values that common action to
address climate change and the MDGs can be negotiated.

3. The MDGs and the Global Climate: What is at Stake?

4
Climate change arguably poses the greatest threat to reducing poverty, advancing
global development, and realizing human rights the world has ever seen. People in
developing countries are not responsible for the climate crisis, but they are paying the
highest price. It is the poorest nations, and the poorest communities within them,
including women and indigenous communities, which are experiencing negative
climatic effects most immediately and most powerfully.

While no single instance of erratic weather or shifting conditions of heat or cold can be
attributed directly to climate change, distinct evidence of changes underway—and
those anticipated—has been provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC). These include long-term changes observed in what the IPCC calls
“events of extreme weather:” drought, heavy precipitation, heat waves, and the
intensity of tropical storms.2

2
Current Evidence of Climate Change.
http://unfccc.int/essential_background/feeling_the_heat/items/2904.php

5
 THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower
women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for
development

As world leaders gather for the UN High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs in
September 2010, examples abound of how extreme weather events that are likely to
increase in number and severity as climate change worsens will undermine
achievement of the MDGs. In Pakistan, unprecedented monsoon floods in August
resulted in thousands of deaths and upended the lives of millions. In Niger, unusually
heavy rains in July and August, hard on the heels of a devastating drought earlier in the
year that ravaged harvests, have left half the population reliant on food aid. In May,
Agathe, a fierce tropical storm, swept through Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. It
destroyed crops, swept aside homes, and hundreds of people died in floods and
mudslides. Some fields in southern Guatemala are still under water.

These calamities and others like them offer a glimpse of the ways in which global
warming3 constrain efforts to achieve the MDGs, as well as broader objectives for
advancing human rights and ensuring sustainable development. And it is not only
headline-grabbing events that provide such evidence. Other changes are underway as
well. In arid regions from Africa to South Asia, rainfall patterns have shifted over recent
years, and drought and floods occur now with increased frequency. Farmers across the
global south report that the rhythm of the seasons has changed, and with this the
predictability of agricultural cycles.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that if current trends
persist the global temperature will rise anywhere between 1.1 and 6.4° Celsius by
2100.4 It is anticipated that 2010 will end up being the warmest year on record.

4. The Nexus - MDGs and the Realities of Climate Change

3
A fact sheet on the UNFCCC defines global warming as follows: “Global warming is caused by an excess of
heat-trapping gases, first and foremost carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides. These gases mainly
result from the burning of fossil fuels, from agriculture and from waste dumps. The gases prevent the sun’s
energy from radiating back into space after it has reached the surface of the earth, much like the glass of a
greenhouse.” http://unfccc.int/press/fact_sheets/items/4978.php
4
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2007: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change
2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B.
Averyt, M.Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New
York, NY, USA, 2007. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf

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As the world’s governments, civil society institutions, international institutions, and the
private sector move forward on the MDGs, it is important to explore some of the ways
these development objectives are being undermined, directly and indirectly, by the
effects—current and anticipated—of climate change.

MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development

MDG 8 always comes at the end of the MDG inventory, but the centrality of partnerships
to achieving the MDGs—among governments, multilateral institutions, donors, civil
society, the private sector, and communities – compels us to prioritize it – hence its
placement in this document. Such partnerships, including accountability for donor aid
and government spending of that aid, must also underpin solutions to climate change.

While the Millennium Declaration, agreed by the UN General Assembly in 2000, did not
mention climate change, it affirmed several values that provide a basis for joining
policy, practice, and funding for achieving the MDGs with a commitment to climate
justice. These include:

Equality. No individual and no nation must be denied the opportunity to benefit

from development. The equal rights and opportunities of women and men must
be assured.
Solidarity. Global challenges must be managed in a way that distributes the
costs and burdens fairly in accordance with basic principles of equity and social
justice. Those who suffer or who benefit least deserve help from those who
benefit most; and
Respect for nature. Prudence must be shown in the management of all living
species and natural resources, in accordance with the precepts of sustainable
development. Only in this way can the immeasurable riches provided to us by
nature be preserved and passed on to our descendants. The current
unsustainable patterns of production and consumption must be changed in the
interest of our future welfare and that of our descendants.5

Climate change is arguably the starkest example of a threat the community of nations
has had to tackle. However, too many of the world’s governments, along with
multilateral organizations, are still acting as if achieving the MDGs and arresting climate
change are separate mandates. The UN processes and forums that deal with
development have little if any overlap with the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change processes; the negotiators and other responsible staff are different and rarely
interact. And the self-interestedness of states in negotiating climate change is more
akin to the contentious world trade negotiations than to the cooperation and dialogue
that takes place for development. A different approach is needed—and urgently—one
that clearly links problem analysis and policy and program development for the MDGs
with climate justice.

…The severity of climate change is only being felt in the rural areas where small
populations reside often in isolation and thus their voices are not being heard…
The presentation of actual experiences of women in their daily lives must be
shared with the public so that climate change can become an issue more widely

5
All, United Nations Millennium Declaration, I.6. http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm

7
 discussed and acted upon.
- Aishia Gladford, GCAP Botswana women and climate change hearing

Realizing the shared agenda for ending dehumanizing poverty and ensuring climate
justice will require one human family working together, not a retreat to the stale
divisions of north and south, rich and poor. Political leaders and citizens must
communicate openly and effectively. Governments, civil society organizations, the
private sector and others actors must redouble their efforts to forge a sense of
shared responsibility across national boundaries. Failing to meet the MDGs and
failing to act decisively on climate change are real threats. Development progress made
over decades lies in the balance. The price of inaction, for justice, equity, sustainability,
and human rights, are immeasurably large.

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

While poverty rates have fallen, the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day
has risen to at least 1.4 billion, about one-quarter of people living in the developing
world.6 Climate change is making the lives of people who live in poverty more
challenging, eroding sources of consistent income, and straining coping strategies used
to survive hardship. The growing lack of predictability in weather, and the increased
number of climate shocks, are disrupting individual and household planning and
budgeting, closing off avenues to climb out of poverty.

Agriculture in particular is already being hard hit by the effects of climate change. This,
in turn, puts food security under threat for people now, and for the approximately 3
billion people to be added to the global population by 2050. More than 1.2 billion people
are hungry today, and 7 of 10 of them are women and girls.7

The majority of the world’s farmers who are wholly or largely dependent on rainfall, not
irrigation, to water their crops will be affected most severely. For many, what they grow
is what their families and communities eat. And even in regions where industrialized
agriculture has become more widespread, small farmers continue to have an important
role in ensuring national food security. When weather reduces mobility, moving
harvested crops will be affected. Decent harvests become more elusive during
droughts, floods, and periods of intense heat or cold. As they do, the incidence of
poverty will rise, and with it, hunger. Small producers have the most to lose. Nearly one
billion people—915 million—consumed fewer than 2,100 calories a day between 2006
and 2008, according to The World Bank, an increase from 873 million in 2004-06.8

If the global temperature increases by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius, the UN Food and

Agriculture Organization (FAO) projects that the yield from crops watered by rain only
will drop significantly in some African regions. Desertification and rising salinity of soils
6
World Bank, Poverty Reduction and Equity, “New Data Show 1.4 Billion Live On Less Than US$1.25 A Day,
But Progress Against Poverty Remains Strong,” August 26, 2008.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/0,,contentMDK:21881954~menuPK:3369
98~pagePK:64020865~piPK:149114~theSitePK:336992,00.html
7
UN Development Programme, “Fast Facts: Millennium Development Goals.” June 2010.
http://www.undp.org/publications/fast-facts/FF-mdg.pdf
8
World Bank, Data, “Progress toward the MDGs, but much remains to be done,” 2010, accessed August
2010. http://data.worldbank.org/news/significant-progress-towards-achieving-MDGs

8
will also challenge food production in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.9 Yields of
rice, a critical staple food for billions of people, are likely to be negatively impacted by
rising temperatures in Asia, where 90% of the world’s rice is produced, according to the
FAO. A drop in rice production will mean more hunger and poverty.10 The Hadley Center
for Climate Change predicts that by 2100, arid and semi-arid regions in sub-Saharan
Africa will increase by 60 to 90 million hectares (150–222 million acres). As a result, US
$26 billion in potential income could be lost by 2060 in these drought-prone regions.
That is more than the sum of bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa in 2005.11

In addition, securing employment or enjoying the right to work are likely to become
more difficult as harsh weather disrupts transportation systems (flooding out roads or
railways) and industries like tourism. The health of workers may be affected negatively,
too, with infectious disease rates likely to rise in some regions. A gender dimension
exists here, too. In agriculture, tourism, and matters of workforce health, women are set
to be affected more than men by the impacts of global warming, according to the
International Labour Organisation.12

UGANDA: FLOODS, DROUGHT, AND ADVANCING THE MDGS

At local levels in communities in both the south and north, women are taking the
lead in addressing the cascading effects of climate change. Constance Okollet is
the chairperson of the Osukuru United Women’s Network in eastern Uganda,
which includes more than 40 organizations. In 2007, heavy rains fell on
Constance’s village, destroying homes and the food supply and displacing all of
the residents. An unprecedented drought followed, leading to more hunger and
disruption. Constance is also one of the Climate Wise Women, a group of women
leaders from across the world dedicated to sharing their experiences of climate
change, and what they and their communities are doing about it and want to see
done, with policy-makers, civil society, other local communities, and the media.

The Osukuru Women’s Network runs several programmes designed to increase

resilience to climate shocks and advance the MDGs. To promote MDG 1, the
network has a savings and credit programme so members can start and sustain
small market enterprises like selling produce and paraffin. Proceeds meet basic
family needs for food and clothing. To combat hunger, network members plant
crops early and use seeds that germinate quickly to take advantage of the now
shortened period of seasonal rains.

While “green jobs” offer potential new employment opportunities (e.g. in non fossil fuel
energy production) that would link MDG 1 and MDG 7, it is important to note that some

9
UN Food and Agriculture Organization, “Profile for Climate Change,” Rome: FAO, 2009.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/012/i1323e/i1323e00.pdf
10
UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Media center, “Hotter nights threaten food security – rice at risk,”
August 9, 2010. http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/44618/icode/
11
UN Development Programme, Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, Human
Development Report 2007/2008, New York: UNDP, 2007.
12
International Labour Organisation, Governing Body, International Labour Office, Working Party on the
Social Dimension of Globalisation, “Decent work for sustainable development – The challenge of climate
change,” WP/SDG, Geneva: ILO, November 2007. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---
relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_084890.pdf

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such jobs can be dirty and dangerous, and fall short of the definition of decent work.
The lack of reliable sources of energy is an important facet of the persistence of poverty
and lagging development. As such, creating new sources of green energy through
stable jobs with good working conditions will advance MDG 1 as well as climate justice.

Farm lands have been taken away by floods and water bodies have dried up.
Now farmers can’t predict when it will be raining, when to plant, and when to
expect their harvest. The change in rainfall pattern[s] has made life in the
community unbearable.
- Farmer from Monze, Zambia Climate Justice Hearing, 2009

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education

The effects of climate change influence the likelihood of children entering and
remaining in school in several ways. If parents’ livelihoods are negatively affected by
erratic weather—harvests fail, drought wipes out livestock, business infrastructure is
damaged, employment opportunities are lost—school fees or the costs of uniforms,
books, and transportation can become insurmountable hurdles. Or the disruption of
daily routines by extreme weather events may close off opportunities for children to
attend primary school; girls are likely to be the most affected.

Women in India whose early childhoods in the 1970s included experience of drought or
flooding were nearly 20% less likely to have attended primary school than women of
the same age and born into similar socio-economic circumstances, but whose early
childhoods did not feature either drought or floods.13 Girls who begin primary school
may be required by parents to skip a year (or more) or stop attending classes entirely
where their labor is deemed essential to help counter household ecological deficits
related to climate change, such as declining local availability of water or wood for
cooking and heating.

Extreme weather events can also damage or destroy school buildings, and the roads or
paths on which children and their teachers travel. For children in primary school,
privations such as hunger, a lack of water, or financial and emotional distress among
family members during an event like a drought, can impede academic focus and
achievement. The knock-on effects are considerable, among them constraints on
opportunities for higher education or the joining of training programs or certain careers.
Lifelong developmental potential may be affected, and with it the chance to surmount
the cycle of inter-generational poverty.

Climate-related shocks are also fueling increased migration, both temporary and more
permanent. For the children of climate refugees, primary schools may simply be
unavailable (in, for example, camps, informal settlements, or remote regions) or
unaffordable. Moreover, in unsettled conditions, children’s education often falls down
the family’s list of priorities. As it does, adult health status, prospects for independence
and autonomy, and progress toward equality across genders and economic classes
become increasingly uncertain.

13
Human Development Report Office, UN Development Programme, “The Effects of Climate-Related
Disasters on Human Development,” HD Insights, HDR Networks, December 2007, Issue 15.

10
 Water is increasingly becoming scarce now. We have to walk long distances in
search of water and do our household chores before going to school. The yields
from our farms are now poorer and our parents can’t even afford three-square
meals a day; much less provide us with school materials. This is really affecting
our studies and academic performance.
- Students from Tumu Basic School, Upper West Ghana, GCAP Ghana climate
justice hearing

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Climate change is also hampering progress toward women’s and girl’s equality and
empowerment, with critical, long-term effects for individual women and societies
overall. For women in poor countries, global warming means more and harder work:
they and often their daughters must spend more time and energy venturing further to
secure water and firewood as streams go dry, groundwater dwindles, and forests and
other vegetation fall sway to drought or severe storms that bring floods and mudslides.

Widespread energy poverty also has specific gender impacts. Where no other source of
fuel is available women and girls must apportion hours a day to securing sufficient
supplies. As they do, they also forfeit time that could be spent on income-generating
activities, training, education, or participation in community and public life. In addition,
women are the majority of the world’s farmers, producing between 60% and 80% of
food in most developing nations.14 Drought, heat, floods, and the resulting dislocation
interrupt harvest cycles and deny women secure livelihoods. Given their central role in
food production, this puts household, community, and even national food security at
risk. In addition, in many households it is a woman’s income that funds children’s
schooling, clothing, and health care. Without it, progress toward the MDGs for education
and health is slowed. Experience over decades and in numerous countries also confirms
that without greater gender equality, arresting the spread of HIV/AIDS and combating
maternal and child mortality (addressed in MDGs 4-6) cannot be achieved.

COMMUNITIES ADDRESS CLIMATE JUSTICE AND GENDER

People living in poverty are often forgotten or excluded from key decisions made
around policy interventions. Genuine and sustainable solutions to climate change
and poverty can only be found with the participation, approval, and leadership of
those living in poverty. In 2009, GCAP and its Feminist Task Force organized a
series of Climate Justice and Poverty Hearings and Women and Climate Change
Tribunals in 18 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The aim was to allow
those who have been directly affected by climate change to share their stories,
air their concerns, and demand a voice in policy debates on climate change. The
hearings and tribunals shed light not only on the many ways communities are
experiencing climate change, but also what they are doing to adapt. “…This very
assembly bears testimony to the courage and conviction of so many ordinary
people who have risen to the occasion with a great sense of hope and
compassion,” reads the “Women’s Charter on Climate Justice” produced during
the gender and climate change tribunal in India. Participants around the world

14
UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO Focus, “Women and Food Security.”
http://www.fao.org/FOCUS/E/Women/Sustin-e.htm

11
 have undertaken a number of follow-up actions. These include drafting of a
“Declaration of Climate Communities,” launched at the COP15 climate summit in
2009.

“This event has provided us with an opportunity to begin to redesign public

policies and reaffirm ourselves as citizens,” said Alvaro Sapag at the climate
justice and poverty hearing in Chile. “The tribunal created the platform and
opportunity to hear from the women who directly bear the impact of climate
change and polluted farmlands, which has led to low crop yield and
impoverishment of the people, of women and children in particular,” said
Caroline Usikpedo Omoniye from the Niger Delta: “It has led to further plans for
actions, like rural mobilizations and advocacy and awareness campaigns on
climate change.”

MDGs 4, 5 and 6: Reduce child mortality; Improve maternal health; Combat

HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (improve health for all)

Global warming also has critical implications for achieving the health related MDGs and
progressively realizing the right to health. Extreme weather threatens water systems,
power generation, food production and storage, shelter, and the means and ease of
transportation. All these factors can put needed health care out of reach, or compound
the incidence of disease. For instance, progress toward maternal health requires women
being able to access care while pregnant and during and after delivery.

If roads are impassable because of floods, or electricity is unavailable in a hospital or

health center due to a drought, maternal care may be compromised, with potentially
dire results. In addition, as climate change affects food availability and food prices,
pregnant women living in poverty are more likely to become malnourished, putting their
health, and that of their unborn child, at greater risk. A lack of adequate, nutritious food
—a likely result of drought, high heat, extreme cold or floods that disrupt or destroy
crops—can lead to weaker immune systems, rendering individuals more susceptible to
communicable diseases. Moreover, if the effects of global warming cause household
incomes to fall, treatment for child malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria, or tuberculosis may
become unaffordable.

Global warming also affects the availability of potable water. Droughts constrain water
volume, while floods or storms often contaminate it—raising the risk of intestinal
diseases that can be fatal to infants and children under 5. According to UNICEF, vector-,
water- and air-born diseases that are the primary causes of child death or illnesses will
increase with climate change. Moreover, immunization and breast-feeding are less
likely to occur during natural disasters, with long-term, negative impacts on children’s
health.15 Studies done in Kenya and Ethiopia for the UN Development Programme’s
2007/2008 Human Development Report found that children 5 or younger born in Kenya
during a drought were 36% more likely to be malnourished than those not born in a
time of drought. In Ethiopia, the impact was even greater: children under 5 born during
droughts were 50%, more likely to be malnourished.16 In South Asia, 40% of children are

15
Akachi, Yoko, et al., “Global Climate Change and Child Health: A review of pathways, impacts and
measures to improve the evidence base,” UNICEF Innocenti Research Center Discussion paper, IDP No.
2009-03, June 2009. www.unicef-irc.org

12
underweight, along with 25% of children in sub-Saharan Africa.17

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that diarrheal diseases, malnutrition,
malaria, and dengue fever are extremely sensitive to climatic changes and are likely to
worsen as climate change intensifies.18 Malaria, for example, is being found in regions
where it was all but unknown. In the East African highlands, researchers concluded that
a half-degree temperature rise between 1950 and 2002 resulted in a significant
increase in the mosquito population and, with it, the chances of malarial infection.19 The
risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, often found in higher rates in mobile populations especially
of men, may also rise as individuals are forced by climate change to migrate far from
home in search of sufficient water, fuel, land, or employment. In addition, ongoing
treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, or preventive education, can be
interrupted if mobility is constrained.

Women and caretakers of farms suffer most. We walk long distances to fetch
dried firewood, hunt for water, and sell farm produce. The size and quality of our
food crops have deteriorated over the years. The sun is squeezing comfort, good
health, and life out of our village. This climate change has negatively impacted
our tradition and lifestyle.
- Women leaders in Tumu, GCAP Ghana climate justice hearing

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Until relatively recently, MDG 7 has been underemphasized. But this is changing, and
several UN agencies and civil society organizations are tracking progress toward it—and
rights to water and a clean and healthy environment—with increased focus.

MDG 7 is relevant to both rural and urban regions, and climate change is affecting
progress toward meeting the goal in both contexts. According to the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), 60 percent of the Earth’s ecosystem services essential to
human society, such as providing fresh water, cleaning the air, and pollinating crops,
are currently degraded or being used in unsustainable ways. “Any progress achieved in
addressing the goals of poverty and hunger eradication, improved health, and
environmental protection is unlikely to be sustained,” if disruption of ecosystem
services goes on, the authors of the MEA wrote.20

Climate change is putting new pressures on ecosystems: desertification from heat,

drought, and the melting of glaciers, and the migration or extinction of species that
maintain ecosystem health and support livelihoods. In rural areas, individuals and
communities that depend on natural resources will experience greater hardship, and
16
UN Development Programme, Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, Human
Development Report 2007/2008, New York: UNDP, 2007.
17
World Bank, Data, “Progress toward the MDGs, but much remains to be done,” 2010, accessed August
2010. http://data.worldbank.org/news/significant-progress-towards-achieving-MDGs
18
World Health Organization, Media centre, “Climate change and health,” January 2010.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/index.html
19
Science Daily, “Warming Trend May Contribute to Malaria’s Rise,” March 22, 2006.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060322142101.htm
20
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, “Experts say that attention to ecosystem services is needed to
achieve global development goals,” March 30, 2005. http://www.maweb.org/en/article.aspx?id=58

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the potential for a deepening of poverty, as ecosystems become less productive and
less resilient to climate shifts. A vicious circle can be unleashed: increased exploitation
in a desperate scramble for survival—and plunging prospects for sustainable
development. About half the world’s people now live in cities. A rise in global
temperatures of 3 to 4 degrees Celsius may lead to the displacement of more than 300
million people on a temporary or permanent basis due to flooding, according to the UN
Development Programme.21

New research suggests that IPCC 2007 estimates of anticipated sea level rises were
low, and that the increase will be more substantial: 75 to 190 centimeters (29.5 to 75
inches) overall in the period between 1990 and 2100.22 Among those hardest hit will be
the world’s approximately 1 billion slum dwellers.23 Not only do rising seas threaten
coastal cities; tropical storms and cyclones also wreak havoc on low-lying settlements,
and inland flooding is becoming more common. As a result, the often-informal
infrastructure of slums (paths, water points, jerry-rigged electricity, homes built from
flimsy materials) is threatened, as are employment and schooling opportunities for
slum-dwellers.

Availability of water has a crucial affect on MDG 7 targets. By 2080, about 1.8 billion
additional people could be living in environments deemed water-scarce, disrupting
agriculture and human habitation.24 But threats from climate change also come in the
form of too much water, from more intense storms, floods, and sea level rises. Both too
little and too much water are threats – they can damage, interrupt, or set back efforts
to provide clean water and sanitation for the more than a billion people who lack them.

Where I live, water is now a rare commodity. I am therefore forced to buy it. My
employer pays me the same amount of wages, yet I have added responsibilities
of buying expensive water and food. When water was abundant, many of us
cultivated our own vegetables. Now you need at least 100 shillings to take care
of your whole family. Many of us only have one meal a day, yet it is our right to
have three meals in a day.
- Nicholas Araka, Kasarani, GCAP Kenya climate justice hearing

Yet many resources are available to mitigate climate change, along with enormous
energy and appetite to bring about the next “industrial revolution” for green power.
Across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, 1.6 billion people lack a household energy
source. Efforts to reduce energy poverty also offer direct support for the MDGs; clean
energy in homes, schools, health centers, enterprises, and government institutions
would improve health, accelerate gender equality, facilitate education, and contribute
to environmental sustainability. A number of such initiatives are underway. Although

21
UN Development Programme, Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, Human
Development Report 2007/2008, New York: UNDP, 2007.
22
Vermeer, Martin and Stefan Rahmstorf, “Global sea level linked to global temperature,” Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, PNAS Early Edition, December 4, 2009.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/12/04/0907765106.full.pdf
23
UN-Habitat, “Statement by Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Secretary General & Executive Director, UNFCCC,
High Level Segment, 2007. http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?
cid=5502&catid=550&typeid=8&subMenuId=0
24
UN Development Programme, Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, Human
Development Report 2007/2008, New York: UNDP, 2007.

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most are small in scale, each can offer valuable information to guide implementation of
the large-scale efforts that are essential.

In Kenya, the “Lighting the Way to Leadership” project is bringing lighting to Maasai
women through a partnership between the Caucus for Women's Leadership, a Kenyan
NGO, and the U.K.-based NGO, Lifeline Energy. Distribution of “lifelights,” which feature
long-lasting, low energy LEDs (light emitting diodes) have allowed the women to reduce
their use of firewood and kerosene-powered ‘koroboys’ for illumination after the sun
goes down (none of the women have electricity from the national grid.) Kerosene
produces toxic fumes that coat the insides of houses and also invade women’s lungs
and eyes as they cook. The lifelights are powered by green energy: small solar panels
or a hand-turned crank. With the lifelight, women have been able to continue household
chores and traditional beadwork into the evening. The project also seeks to facilitate
the women’s participation in local governance structures, as well as exploration of
livelihood options. Lifeline Energy is set to launch a lifelight project in South Africa
targeting students, particularly girls, so they can continue their studies at night.25

The development and human rights challenges faced by people across the world are
daunting. But the resilience and resourcefulness of communities across the world in the
examples above are equally notable. As is clear from the examples presented above,
when addressing climate change and achieving the MDGs are linked more closely in
analysis, problem-solving and policy change, progress on both will be swifter.

25
“Lighting the Way to Leadership Launches in Kenya” Media center, Lifeline Energy.
http://lifelineenergy.org/NC_LightingtheWaytoLeadership.html

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