Ethiopian Review

The poorest people in the world’s poorest countries will suffer the earliest and the most from climate change, according to this year’s edition of the World Bank’s annual environmental review, Environment Matters.
The report says that, due to their geographical location, low incomes, and low institutional capacity, as well as their greater reliance on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, the poorest countries and people (those least responsible for climate change and least able to cope with it) are suffering earliest and are poised to suffer most. But adapting to climate change can also serve to meet the development objectives of countries.
According to a press release from the World Bank, this year’s Environment Matters focuses on the immediate necessity for developing countries to begin adapting to climate change. The bank’s top climate change and environment experts, and other contributors, give frank assessments of what is currently known (and not known) on key subjects linked to adaptation, including climate variability, biodiversity, social dimensions, and water security, and makes concrete recommendations for the way forward.
“Climate action is development action,” said Katherine Sierra, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development. “We are moving forward aggressively with our client countries to implement adaptive measures that improve the local environment, increase resilience to current and future climate variability and to natural disasters, and foster the dissemination of innovative technologies.”
According to the publication, climate change will provide opportunities to revisit current development practices. The report shows that with additional resources, climate change can be a stimulus to assist the transition to improved practices in land management, energy production, coastal protection, and so on, especially in the poorest countries.
The recent replenishment by donor countries of the International Development Association (IDA) – the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries by providing interest-free loans and grants – saw funding commitments rise by 42 percent to $14 billion per year. This was partly in response to the World Bank’s submission that climate change will increase the resources needed to maintain levels of benefits to those countries that depend on it. According to the report, comprehensive climate risk management in IDA projects will likely be the largest source of funding for adaptation in least developed countries in the immediate future.
The publication further emphasizes that climate change – and developing countries’ adaptation to it – is a critical challenge that must be integrated into core development strategies. Environment Matters highlights: Access to clean, reliable energy sources is a core element of increasing climate resilience; Climate change may bring back water security challenges to countries that for a hundred years have enjoyed reliable water supplies and few, if any, water shocks.
The Bank Group is currently developing a Strategic Framework for Climate Change to be presented to its Development Committee at Annual Meetings in October 2008. The Bank is also committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its own operations through the use of energy efficiency measures, renewable energy, and carbon offsets. Working with its partners, clients, and all sectors of society to turn the challenge of climate change into an opportunity for development leading to an inclusive and sustainable globalization is the challenging task ahead.

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