Tearfund has said that more must be done in the developing world to combat climate change. The Christian charity’s call comes as Frances Cairncross, chairman of the Economic and Social Research Council, delivers a Presidential Address today to the British Association of the Advancement of Science on climate change and adaptation as part of the BA Festival of Science in Norwich.
Cairncross said: “Adaptation policies have had far less attention than mitigation, and that is a mistake…we need to think now about policies that prepare for a hotter, drier world, especially in poorer countries.
“That may involve, for instance, developing new crops, constructing flood defences, setting different building regulations, or banning building close to sea level.”
As a leading UK relief and development charity, Tearfund is already working with poorer people in the developing world on adapting to climate change.
Tearfund is working with partners in Malawi, Bangladesh, Honduras, Ethiopia, India and many other places to help people adapt to the devastating effects of climate change which threaten to wipe out any progress made against the Millennium Development Goals.
Andy Atkins, Policy Director of Tearfund, said, “Tearfund is already working with poor communities to help them adapt to climate change.
“Tearfund believes that the rich world’s scant investment in adaptation in vulnerable countries is illogical and indefensible. It makes no moral or economic sense to ignore the urgent need for this when it is clear that it saves lives, livelihoods, and helps to safeguard progress with poverty reduction.
“It is time for politicians to put their money where their mouths are.”