1 The Inquiry
1. Climate change threatens to destroy gains made
in poverty reduction in many developing countries. In Africa climate
change is already causing increased flooding and droughts, shifting
rainfall patterns, more extreme weather and unpredictable seasons.
These changes have the potential to destroy villages and towns,
reduce agricultural productivity, spread disease and push the
most vulnerable people further into poverty as they struggle to
find water, feed themselves, or move to new, more secure locations.
Lord Stern emphasised the importance of ensuring that climate
change was not allowed to undermine poverty reduction objectives:
The two big challenges of this century are the
fight against world poverty and the management of climate change,
and they are inextricably interlinked. If we fail to manage climate
change, we will undermine development very drastically, and if
we try to put forward a programme for the management of climate
change which is seen to, or does, undermine the prospects of fighting
poverty over the next 20 or 30 years, we will not succeed in gathering
the coalition that we have to and neither would we deserve to
succeed.[1]
2. There is also a risk that the current economic
crisis could derail efforts to tackle climate change and further
increase the risks to developing countries. As we have explored
in our separate report on Aid Under Pressure, the current
economic downturn could push 90 million more people into extreme
poverty by the end of 2010.[2]
Developing countries are already feeling the impacts which include:
people eating less nutritious food and eating less frequently;
and increased domestic and ethnic violence, crime and drug abuse.[3]
The world's poorest people are therefore facing the dual threats
of a changing climate and increased economic uncertainty.
3. In this context we decided to examine how DFID
is seeking to assist developing countries to manage the impact
of climate change while continuing to make progress on poverty
reduction objectives. Economic development is often dependent
on natural resources which are finite or threatened. DFID's approach
must therefore also ensure that development today is consistent
with maintaining the supply of resources for future generations.
This is the concept of "sustainable development", described
in the report of the Bruntland Commission, Our Common Future,
in 1987[4] and now enshrined
in Millennium Development Goal 7—ensuring environmental
sustainability. The Goal's first target is to integrate the principles
of sustainable development into country policies and programmes.[5]
4. The Conference of Parties to the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is due to take place in
Copenhagen in December. Its aim is to reach agreement on how the
international community will tackle climate change after 2012.
The extent to which the needs of poor countries are addressed
in any new agreement is key to their future development and security.
The UK, as an acknowledged global leader in development, has an
important role to play in ensuring that the particular needs of
poor countries are addressed at the Conference and that these
countries are supported to make a clear case for assistance in
tackling climate change.
5. It therefore seemed timely for us to assess the
effectiveness and coherence of the UK Government's approach to
sustainable development; the extent to which climate change is
integrated into DFID's work, including mitigation and adaptation
measures; and the prospects at the Copenhagen Conference for progress
on measures to tackle the impact of climate change on poor countries.
We have also used the aviation sector as a case study to assess
the extent to which mitigation measures taken by the rich world
may have an adverse impact of the economies of poor countries
and what might be done to address this.
6. We announced our inquiry in October 2008. We received
evidence from 26 organisations and individuals including the UK
Government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics,
consultancies and the private sector. We held five evidence sessions
between January and April 2009. We are grateful to all those who
took the time to engage with our inquiry. We are also grateful
for the assistance provided by our two specialist advisers, Professor
Thomas E Downing of the Stockholm Environment Institute and Dr
Benito Müller of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.[6]
7. As part of the inquiry, we visited Kenya and Tanzania
in March 2009 to observe the challenges faced by those already
dealing with a less predictable and harsher climate. In Kenya,
our focus was on livelihoods and horticulture. We visited a flower
farm whose carbon emissions were six times lower than its Dutch
equivalent. We travelled to North Horr, in the arid lands of Northern
Kenya, to see projects aimed at improving access to water, food
and livelihoods in the context of an increasingly unpredictable
climate. We discussed climate change in Nairobi with academics,
NGOs, and research institutes. In Tanzania we focused on the contribution
the tourism sector makes to economic growth and on the involvement
of local communities in the protection of natural resources. In
Arusha, we visited the National Park to observe how tourism and
conservation could be jointly pursued and discussed the impact
of the economic downturn on tourism revenues with many people
working in the sector. We went to Kilwa in the southern coastal
area to look at livelihoods projects. In Dar es Salaam we met
representatives of the Tanzanian government, NGOs and other donors.
The full itinerary of our visit is set out in the Annex. We are
grateful to the DFID offices in Kenya and Tanzania for facilitating
our visit and to all those who contributed to our programme.
DFID's 2009 White Paper
8. In January 2009 the Secretary of State told us
that DFID would be publishing a new White Paper later this year.[7]
A consultation document was released in March which asked four
broad questions:
- How can we support countries
to minimise the impact of the economic downturn on the poor?
- How can we build a low carbon and climate resilient
world?
- How can we create a safer world and the right
conditions for poverty reduction in fragile and conflict-affected
countries?
- How can the international financial institutions
be reformed to deliver development?[8]
9. We decided that we needed to reflect the priority
DFID has given to climate change in the new White Paper by ensuring
that our report on these issues was published in time to inform
the consultation process. As a result, our inquiry has had to
be compressed and we have not had time to address all the issues
which we originally set out to examine. We expect, however, to
return to this subject when the outcomes of the Copenhagen summit
in December are known.
10. Our recent report on Aid Under Pressure represents
our contribution to the debate on two of the other White Paper
questions: cushioning the impact of the downturn on the poor;
and reform of the international financial institutions.[9]
The issue of fragile and conflict-affected states has been addressed
in a number of our previous reports, most recently on the Humanitarian
and Development Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,
Reconstructing Afghanistan and Conflict and Development.[10]
The conclusions and recommendations set out in these reports remain
relevant to DFID's consultation.
Structure of the Report
11. The introduction in Chapter 2 assesses DFID's
work to date on climate change in the context of the forthcoming
Copenhagen conference. Chapter 3 explores the implications of
climate change for development policy and practice and what more
should be done to ensure that poor countries have the finance,
knowledge and capacity to respond appropriately. Chapter 4 assesses
the potentially negative impact which climate change response
measures adopted by developed countries, specifically in relation
to aviation emissions, may have on developing countries. Chapter
5 explores how DFID can best promote low carbon development while
ensuring that the energy needs of the poorest are still met. Chapter
6 assesses the prospects for a "development friendly"
outcome at the Copenhagen conference and the role which DFID might
play in helping to ensure this.
1 Q 200 Back
2
Fourth Report of Session 2008-09, Aid Under Pressure: Support
for Development Assistance in a Global Economic Downturn ,
HC 179-II. See oral evidence taken on 22 April 2009, Q 239 Back
3
DFID, Latest research shows impact of recent crises on poor
communities, 15 April 2009 Back
4
The Bruntland Commission defined sustainable development as "development
which meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs." UN,
Our Common Future, Report of the World Commission on Environment
and Development, 1987 Back
5
UNDP, Millennium Development Goals, www.undp.org/mdg/goal7.shtml Back
6 Specialist Advisers
are required to declare interests which are relevant to the inquiry.
Dr Müller declared a relevant interest in that he is the
joint coordinator of a Climate Strategies project on the Clean
Development Mechanism, which is part-funded by the Department
for International Development. Back
7
Fourth Report of Session 2008-09, Aid Under Pressure: Support
for Development Assistance in a Global Economic Downturn ,
HC 179-II. See oral evidence taken on 21 January 2009, Q 19. Back
8
DFID, Eliminating World Poverty: Assuring our Common Future:
A consultation document, March 2009 Back
9
Fourth Report of Session 2008-09, Aid Under Pressure: Support
for Development Assistance in a Global Economic Downturn,
HC 179 Back
10
International Development Committee, Eleventh Report of Session
2007-2008, The Humanitarian and Development Situation in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, HC 522; Fourth Report of
Session 2007-2008, Reconstructing Afghanistan, HC 65;and
Sixth Report of Session 2005-2006, Conflict and Development:
Peacebuilding and Post-conflict Reconstruction, HC 923 Back
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