Why is climate change the priority issue for Oxfam?
Climate change is the number one threat to overcoming poverty. Rich countries produce most of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Yet, it is the poorest countries that will be hit hardest. The impacts of climate change will disproportionately affect the livelihoods, health, and educational opportunities of people living in poverty, as well as their chances of survival. For example: • Between 1990 and 1998, 94 per cent of the world’s 568 major natural disasters, and more than 97 per cent of all natural disaster-related deaths, were in developing countries • Natural disasters have quadrupled over the last two decades, from an average of 120 a year in the early 1980s to as many as 500 today Is the Philippines affected by climate change? The Philippines is one of the world’s most disaster-prone areas, and climate change will increase the number and impact of disasters hitting it. In 2006 alone, the economic impact of disasters has cost the country US$988M in absolute amounts, a
