TLTP
\nGENEVA
\nThe world should react with the same urgency to climate change as is to the coronavirus crisis, the Red Cross said, warning that global warming poses a greater threat than Covid-19.
\nEven as the pandemic rages, climate change is not taking a break from wreaking havoc, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a report.
\nIn its report on global catastrophes since the 1960s, the Geneva-based organisation pointed out that the world had been hit by more than 100 disasters \u2013 many of them climate-related \u2013 since the World Health Organization declared the pandemic in March.
\nMore than 50 million people had been affected, it said.
\n\u201cOf course, the Covid is there, it\u2019s in front of us, it is affecting our families, our friends, our relatives,\u201d IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain told a virtual news conference.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a very, very serious crisis the world is facing currently,\u201d he said of the pandemic, which has already killed more than 1.3 million people.
\nBut, he warned, the IFRC expects \u201cclimate change will have a more significant medium and long term impact on the human life and on Earth\u201d.
\nAnd while it looks increasingly likely that one or several vaccines would soon become available against COVID-19, Chapagain stressed that \u201cunfortunately, there is no vaccine for climate change\u201d.
\nWhen it comes to global warming, he warned, \u201cit will require a much more sustained action and investment to really protect the human life on this earth\u201d.
\nThe frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate-related events have been steadily climbing since the 1960s, said the IFRC.
\nIn 2019 alone, the world was hit by 308 natural disasters \u2013 77 percent of them climate or weather-related \u2013 killing some 24,400 people.
\nThe number of climate and weather-related disasters has surged by nearly 35 percent since the 1990s, IFRC said, calling it a \u201cdeadly development\u201d.
\nWeather and climate-related disasters have killed more than 410,000 people over the past decade, most of them in poorer countries, with heat waves and storms proving the most deadly, the report said.
\nFaced with this threat, which \u201cliterally threatens our long-term survival\u201d, IFRC called on the international community to act with the urgency required. \u201cThese disasters are already on the doorstep in every country around the world,\u201d it said.
\n\u201cWith challenges like these, international solidarity is not only a moral responsibility but also the smart thing to do.
\n\u201cInvesting in resilience in the most vulnerable places is more cost-effective than to accept continued increases in the cost of humanitarian response, and contributes to a safer, more prosperous and sustainable world for everyone,\u201d it added.
\nThe IFRC estimated that around $50bn would be needed annually over the next decade to help 50 developing countries adapt to the changing climate.
\nIt stressed that that amount was \u201cdwarfed by the global response to the economic impact of COVID-19,\u201d which has already passed $10 trillion. It also lamented that much of the money invested so far in climate change prevention and mitigation was not going to the developing countries who are most at risk. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP GENEVA The world should react with the same urgency to climate change as is to the coronavirus crisis, the Red Cross said, warning that global warming poses a greater threat than Covid-19. Even as the pandemic rages, climate change is not taking a break from wreaking havoc, the International Federation of Red Cross and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n