Hopes for a global climate deal are drying up while the Philippines are drowning in the worst floods seen in decades. Political leadership is urgently needed if we are to avoid future catastrophic climate change. This week delegations from 192 countries meet in Bangkok to find solutions to the looming climate crisis. 

The worst flooding seen for decades hit the Philippines this week. More than 70 people have died and 330,000 have been displaced.  While the citizens of Manila are up to their necks in water, delegates are meeting in Bangkok for a final round of negotiations before the climate summit in Copenhagen in December.

’If we want to prevent a further escalation in the intensity and frequency of natural disasters in the future, an ambitious global climate deal is urgently needed. But lack of political leadership from the European Union and the United States is threatening to derail the process,’ said Poul Erik Lauridsen, CARE International Climate Change Coordinator.

The humanitarian implications of climate change are becoming more severe as the frequency and number of natural disasters increase. A recent study by the World Bank, ’Hazards of nature, risks to development’, estimates that 1.6 billion people were affected by natural disasters between 1984 and 1993. In the following decade, this number had increased to 2.6 billion people affected by natural disasters - more than one third of the world’s population.
 
‘The situation is particularly grave in developing countries. Around the world, 98 percent of the people who die from natural disasters live in developing countries,’ Lauridsen said. ‘Therefore the climate treaty must provide adequate financing for investments in climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction.’ 

Money – the sticky issue
With only 15 days of negotiations left before the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen there is an urgent need for the United States and the European Union to show leadership.

’Last week’s announcement from Japan committing to reducing green house gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 is an important step in the right direction. Also Hu Jintao, President of China, stirred hopes at the UN General Assembly with an announcement of enhanced emissions intensity goals. But the lack of ambition and clear commitments on financing and emissions reductions from the United States and European Union is increasingly threatening to stall the global climate negotiations,’ Lauridsen said.

According to estimates by the international non-governmental organization (NGO) community, the European Union’s fair share of the climate bill is around 35 billion Euros per year. But the European Commission is only willing to provide between 2-15 billion Euros per year according to the recent communication, ‘A European blueprint for the Copenhagen deal’ published by the European Commission. 

’It is a positive step that the European Commission has finally shared how much money they are willing to put on the table, but the figures don’t add up,’ Lauridsen said. ‘If we are to seriously avoid catastrophic humanitarian implications of climate change in developing countries, we urgently need to come up with concrete answers to the key questions of who is paying for climate change adaptation, how much and by when? The clock is ticking. The longer we wait, the more expensive it will become on a global scale.  Negotiators only have 15 working days left before reaching Copenhagen. Without political leadership and stronger commitments from the European Union, we will not reach an agreement in Copenhagen in December.’

About CARE
CARE International is a non-political, non-religious confederation composed of 12 Member organisations operating from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Thailand, the UK and the USA.
CARE operates independently at home but cooperates closely in the field. All CARE Member organisations share a common commitment to fighting poverty and protecting and enhancing human dignity.
With operations in 70 developing countries, CARE is one of the world's largest humanitarian organisations. Our long-term development assistance and emergency relief initiatives are currently benefiting about 55 million people around the world.