World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007 - (Page 48)

PHOTO BY CHRIS JACKSON/GET T Y IMAGES Pastoralist children beg for water in Dambas, Kenya. Thousands of people face starvation due to deepening drought in northern Kenya. The government is distributing food rations to communities in the worst-affected areas and is appealing to the international community for urgent aid to save the lives of an estimated 2.5 million people. Northeastern Kenya could take 15 years to recover from the effects of the drought, aid agencies in the area warn. Many people fear they will soon begin to start dying like their animals. Based on damage done and ability to pay, Oxfam has created an “Adaptation Financing Index,” which places the U.S. responsible for over 40 percent of the costs of adapting to climate change, with Europe responsible for more than 30 percent and Japan over 10 percent. Oxfam estimates that less than one half of one percent of the needed funds has been committed. The bottom line is, when we contain global warming, we reduce current and future poverty. By reducing greenhouse gases, we protect the livelihoods of some of the world’s poorest people. By making protection of forests profitable, we can help preserve the global environment. Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions is an important addition to our portfolio of strategies for ending hunger and poverty, but it is not a substitute for supporting other vital work. We must keep our commit- ments to expand much-needed assistance for the poor in health, nutrition, education, livelihoods and empowerment Because availability of future means and assistance for adaptation many years from now is also far from clear, we act also for improved welfare of those who may still remain poor and hungry in the future. The good news, according the Stern Review and other studies, is that it is neither too late, nor is it overly expensive if we act soon. WE CAN ALL HELP So what can citizens do to help? Knowledge is powerful. The first step is to learn more. Major recent reports, such as the five listed in the accompanying sidebar, shed light on different aspects of these problems. Sometimes these reports may raise as many questions as they answer. But by being aware of the current knowledge, you will be in the 48 November/December 2007 | WORLD ARK www.heifer.org http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007

World Ark - November/December 2007 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked & Answered Pursuing Happiness (PRODUCT) RED: Consumer Power Fights AIDS in Africa Rwanda Reconciles End Hunger Now Protecting the Poor from Climate Change Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit Heifer Calendar Reflection

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007

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