Why We Should Care about Vulnerable Coastal Communities

Meity Masipuang is a member of an enterprise group in Papusungan village, Lembeh island, Indonesia. Their women’s group purchases fish to smoke and resell. They are participants of the IFAD-funded Coastal Community Development project in Indonesia. Credit: IFAD/Roger ArnoldBy Nigel BrettROME, Jan 16 2019 (IPS)According to UN statistics, approximately 40 per cent of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers of the coast, and overall the world’s coastal population is increasing faster than the total global population. At the same time, global warming is causing sea levels to rise and increasing extreme weather incidents on coastlines. The impacts are well publicized and alarming. But what we may not realize is that the people who are the most vulnerable to climate change are often the poorest. It is essential that we act upon what we know in order to mitigate the effects of climate change and build resilience in the poorest communities. In all of our development work, we cannot regard climate change and the plight of vulnerable coastal communities as a niche issue.A large portion of the world’s poor people live in Asia and the Pacific: 347 million people in the region live on less than US$1.90 a day, almost half of the 736 million people living in extreme poverty worldwide. Rising sea level exposes large areas of Asia and the Pacific to potential floods, coastline damage and increased salinity of agricultural lands. Climate change and environmental degradation ...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - January 16, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Nigel Brett Tags: Asia-Pacific Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Environment Featured Food & Agriculture Headlines Health Human Rights Migration & Refugees Population Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Trade & Investment Wa Source Type: news