"It's the poorest of the poor in the world, and this includes poor people even in prosperous societies, who are going to be the worst hit." Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), was talking about the impact of climate change. But he could have been talking generally.
Whenever the environment changes, the effects are felt by people - and it is those who have least access to money and resources who are least able to adapt and escape the consequences.
If temperatures continue to rise within the next generation as predicted, people living in poverty will be the worst affected.
Facts
- 75-250 million people across Africa will face water shortages
- Crop yields may increase by 20% in East and Southeast Asia, but decrease by up to 30% in Central and South Asia
- Agriculture fed by rainfall could drop by 50% in some parts of Africa
- 20-30% of all plant and animal species will be at increased risk of extinction
- Glaciers and snow cover will decline, reducing water availability in countries supplied by melt water
Africa is likely to be the continent most vulnerable to climate change.
In Africa, hundreds of millions of additional people will face water shortages, a greater risk of malaria, and reduced crop yields. Many ecosystems will be harmed.
In South, South-East, and East Asia, approximately 1 billion people face increased water shortages, decreased agricultural productivity and increased risks of floods, droughts and cholera.
Our approach
It is essential that people in developing countries receive accurate information about climate change and other environmental changes such as deforestation, soil erosion and pollution. They also need skills and knowledge to cope with natural disasters.
We aim to:
- Help people protect their food supplies and incomes as the climate changes
- Train and strengthen local media to raise environmental issues and stimulate debate
- Prepare local media to provide life-saving broadcasts during natural disasters; and
- Make sure all our work considers the effect on the environment
Environmental journalism training
We help local media professionals and broadcasters to improve the quality and quantity of environmental programming in their countries.
We also train non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in developing countries how to communicate their messages more effectively to the media.
Environmental programming
Programmes produced in partnership with broadcasters and NGOs in developing countries focus on:
- Air, noise and water pollution
- Deforestation
- Increasing energy consumption
- Erosion and degradation of land
- Waste management; and
- The impacts of high carbon emissions
Debate and discussion programme encourage public dialogue about climate change and highlight its devastating effect on local populations.
Examples of our work
In India, we worked in partnership with national and international NGOs to mobilise public opinion around the environment by improving the media's coverage of the environmental issues, and helping environmental activists communicate their messages more effectively. More
In the Eastern Caribbean, we worked in partnership with media professionals, local authorities, and national and international NGOs to build public awareness of climate change and the need for national and regional environmental policies. We delivered face-to-face and online journalism training to improve the media's ability to cover environmental issues in Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Trinidad & Tobago. More
In China, we trained and mentored local film-makers to create documentaries about environmental subjects.
