´óÏó´«Ã½

News

Last updated: 6 july, 2009 - 12:12 GMT

Oxfam: climate change already hitting the world's poor

Indian villagers reach for food during distribution by a social welfare group at Kumirmari village in the Sunderbans, the world"s biggest mangrove reserve, 170 kms south of Calcutta on June 3, 2009

To play this content JavaScript must be turned on and the latest Flash player installed.

The international aid agency Oxfam says climate change is set to cause hunger on a scale that'll make it the defining human tragedy of this century.

A report, released ahead of this week's G8 summit, says poor people in the developing world are being further impoverished, as unpredictable weather patterns lead to more natural disasters and falling crop yields.

It urges G8 leaders to cut carbon emissions by at least 40% from 1990 levels by 2020, and to provide $150bn to help poorer nations adapt.

Shorbanu Khatun is a widowed farmer and fisherwoman from Bangladesh who lost her home and her livelihood in a cyclone.

Oxfam brought her to Britain to take part in a campaign against the building of a coal-fired power station outside London. Alex Renton authored the report.

First broadcast 6 July 2009

Related ´óÏó´«Ã½ links

  • Report by Alex Renton

´óÏó´«Ã½ iD

´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation

´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.