[Translated from Spanish. Original text by Ubaldo Bravo]
Besides being one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, current global warming is widening the inequality gap between rich and poor countries. In its report published this past March 25, the Climate Impact Lab estimates that 90% of climate change-related deaths will occur in low- and middle-income countries.
“The results vary across South and Central American countries. The hardest-hit areas will be in Bolivia, Paraguay, or northern Mexico. In these places, there will be between 20 and 40 more deaths per 100,000 people. These climate-driven deaths are as numerous as those caused by traffic accidents. Chile, Argentina, or Peru have recorded a decrease in this rate,” explained Claudia Gemmel, communications manager for the Climate Impact Lab, to Radio France Internationale (RFI).
The Climate Impact Lab’s work was monumental. For 10 years, they gathered data from 25,000 regions around the world. Their findings now help highlight what some economists consider one of the greatest injustices of our time: that poor countries, which contribute the least to climate change, are the hardest hit.
“In general, wealthier countries will do better than poor ones because they have a greater capacity to adapt to global warming. Most countries in South and Central America are of middle- or high-income, even if some have low growth, like Bolivia, Nicaragua, or Honduras. Wealth will make many areas in the region less sensitive to rising heat if we compare it with areas that do not have as much economic growth,” Gemmel detailed.
In Haiti, the poorest country on the continent, fighting climate change is a matter of survival. The government states that its effects, such as prolonged droughts or devastating storms, are damaging infrastructure and crops.
Listen to the radio emission on Radio France Internationale …
