Why is climate change a development issue?
Developing countries are more vulnerable to climate change than rich countries. Poor people and communities are most at risk from the increased impacts of extreme weather events (i.e., floods, droughts and storms) and other changes. Hard-earned development gains could be lost because of climate change, leaving more people stuck in poverty and possibly pushing still more people into poverty. The poorest communities and countries have contributed least to the problem but will be affected worst. For example, human-induced climate change is expected to (among other things): • increase climate variability and hurt agricultural productivity throughout the tropics and sub-tropics (threatening food security); • further decrease water quantity and quality in most arid and semi-arid regions (where poor communities depend on rainfall for their crops and drinking water); • increase the incidence of malaria, dengue fever and other vector-borne diseases in the tropics and sub-tropics (where health s
