A new report published on Tuesday estimated that more than 120 million people could slip into poverty within the next decade because ofclimate change.
As extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and hurricanes become more frequent, the world’s poorest people will be forced to “choose between starvation and migration,” the report warned.
“We risk a ‘climate apartheid’ scenario where the wealthy pay to escape overheating, hunger and conflict while the rest of the world is left to suffer,” said Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
Ilhan Omar introduces bill to end school lunch debt shaming
Alston said the difference between how climate change affects the wealthy and the poor is already apparent.
One example he gave in the report was the aftermath of the 2012 Hurricane Sandy in New York City. While thousands of low-income people were left without power and healthcare for days, the Goldman Sachs HQ on Manhattan was kept safe by tens of thousands of sandbags and powered by a private generator.
Recent Comments