Friday, Apr 19, 2024 | Last Update : 10:25 AM IST
Climate deal urgent, says UN
Weather-related disasters have grown more frequent over the last 20 years, claiming more than 6,00,000 lives, the UN said on Monday, issuing a further call for nations to strike a landmark deal on cli
Weather-related disasters have grown more frequent over the last 20 years, claiming more than 6,00,000 lives, the UN said on Monday, issuing a further call for nations to strike a landmark deal on climate change.
The report from the UN agency for disaster risk reduction (UNISDR) said floods, storms and other extreme weather events have killed 6,06,000 people since 1995, “with an additional 4.1 billion people injured, left homeless or in need of emergency assistance.” The report noted that while there was no way to establish how mu-ch of the rise in such disasters was caused by climate change, the link bet-ween the planet’s changing climate and extreme weather was clear.
“The contents of this report underline why it is so important that a new climate change agreeme-nt emerges from the COP21 in Paris”, said UNISDR chief Margareta Wahlstrom, referring to crunch climate talks star-ting next week. The talks that open in the French capital on November 30 are tasked with crafting a 195-nation pact to curb greenhouse gas emissions blamed for dangerous levels of climate change.
Between 2005 and 2014, the leading database that tracks weather-linked disasters recorded 335 such incidents, a 14 per cent increase compared to the previous decade and nearly double the number recorded from 1985 to 1994.
Meanwhile, French France foreign minister Laurent Fabius said it is counting on Brazil to convince world leaders to strike a deal to limit ann-ual temperature rise at an upcoming Paris summit.
Mr Fabius met on Sunday in Brasilia with President Dilma Rousseff, his counterpart Mauro Vieira and Brazil’s environment minister Izabella Teixeira on a three-day world tour.
“Brazil has made very ambitious and exemplary commitments, and that lends to its credibility as a historic partner in the negotiations on climate (change) since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro,” Mr Fabius said on Sunday. “I am really counting on Brazil’s drive to succeed in this area — and on its strong reputation (on climate change) — to help convince others.”
