Climate Vulnerability Monitor
Encyclopedia
The Climate Vulnerability Monitor (CVM) is an independent global assessment of the effect of climate change on the world’s populations brought together by panels of key international authorities. The Monitor was launched in December 2010 in London
and Cancun
to coincide with the UN Cancun Summit on climate change (COP-16).
Developed by DARA (international organization) and the Climate Vulnerable Forum
, the report is meant to serve as a new tool to assess global vulnerability to various effects of climate change within different nations.
The report distills leading science and research for a clearer explanation of how and where population
s are being affected by climate change today (2010) and in the near future (2030), while pointing to key actions that reduce these impacts.
patterns, economic factors, land loss from expanding deserts or rising sea levels). It lists over 50 measures that the authors claim are readily available to limit virtually all harm caused by climate change.
According to the report, the estimated figures of impacts are yielded from the Monitor’s specific methodology
and represent additional impacts due to climate change. They give a "snapshot" of what is expected to already be taking place and what might occur in the near future. According to the authors, the Monitor represents just one possible way of measuring climate vulnerability that they expect can be improved upon.
4 Climate Impact Areas Addressed
5 Climate Vulnerability Factors
, and other impacts result in 350,000 deaths per year. The report states that the effects of climate change could contribute to the deaths of 5 million people by 2020 and cause as many as 1 million deaths per year by 2030 if global warming
isn't slowed. Heat, wind, and water shortages put pressure on the habitat of approximately 2.5 million people. Storms, floods, and wildfires are estimated to leave an additional $5 billion in damage each year, while rising seas cost 1% of GDP to the lowest-income countries – 4% in the Pacific – with 65 billion dollars annually lost from the world economy
.
The report further states that most impacts are highly concentrated on children and the poor with the majority of the death toll is concentrated on children living in Sub-Saharan Africa
or South Asia
, and that gradual, not sudden, impacts from climate change causes more than 90% of all damage. Over 80% of people at risk from climate-caused desertification reside in high-growth emerging economies such as China
and India
.
The report also states that half of the economic impacts of climate change are felt in industrialized countries. However, lower-income countries suffer much greater relative stresses to their economies, mainly due to larger, less-robust agricultural sectors. Just 15 countries are considered acutely vulnerable to climate change today, collectively suffering nearly half of all climate impacts. Recognized fragile or failed states like Afghanistan
, Haiti
, Myanmar
, Sierra Leone
, and Somalia
are among the worst affected. An average of just 24 countries are assessed as having the most severe factor of vulnerability for each main impact area of health, extreme weather, habitat loss, and economic stress. In every case, some two thirds of the total global impact falls on just 10 countries.
The report states that 20 more years of inaction could lead to nearly 1 million climate-related deaths each year by 2030. The number of acutely-vulnerable countries could more than triple over that period. Economic costs could increase to $100 billion of stress on the world’s coastlines, $150 billion worth of primary-sector and natural resource losses, and $10 billion in storm, flood, and wildfire damages—a third of a trillion dollar annual economic crisis.
created the Climate Vulnerability Monitor to advance understanding of the growing negative effects of climate change on society and to identify a variety of key options to meet this new challenge.
The Climate Vulnerable Forum is a global partnership of leaders of countries most vulnerable to climate change actively seeking a firm and urgent resolution to the growing climate crisis. It was founded by President Mohamed Nasheed
of the Maldives
and first met in November 2009. The Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum adopted then expressed alarm at the rate of changes and danger witnessed around the planet due to the effects of anthropogenic
global warming and called for urgent international cooperation to tackle the challenge. The countries include Bangladesh
, Barbados
, Bhutan
, Kiribati
, Ghana
, Kenya
, Nepal
, Rwanda
, Tanzania
, Vietnam
and Maldives.
DARA is an international organization based in Madrid
, Spain
, and founded in 2003 by Silvia Hidalgo. According to its website, the organization aims to improve the quality and effectiveness of aid for vulnerable populations suffering from conflict, disasters, and climate change.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Cancun
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
to coincide with the UN Cancun Summit on climate change (COP-16).
Developed by DARA (international organization) and the Climate Vulnerable Forum
Climate Vulnerable Forum
The Climate Vulnerable Forum is a global partnership of countries disproportionately affected by the consequences of global warming as a result of heightened socio-economic and environmental vulnerabilities that actively seek a firm and urgent resolution to a current intensification of climate...
, the report is meant to serve as a new tool to assess global vulnerability to various effects of climate change within different nations.
The report distills leading science and research for a clearer explanation of how and where population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
s are being affected by climate change today (2010) and in the near future (2030), while pointing to key actions that reduce these impacts.
Objectives
The Climate Vulnerability Monitor attempts to demonstrate how each country is vulnerable to climate change (due to health reasons, extreme weatherExtreme weather
Extreme weather includes weather phenomena that are at the extremes of the historical distribution, especially severe or unseasonal weather. The most commonly used definition of extreme weather is based on an event's climatological distribution. Extreme weather occurs only 5% or less of the time...
patterns, economic factors, land loss from expanding deserts or rising sea levels). It lists over 50 measures that the authors claim are readily available to limit virtually all harm caused by climate change.
About the Climate Vulnerability Monitor
The Climate Vulnerability Monitor reportedly takes a new approach to assessing the climate vulnerability of the world and its regions, countries and communities. The Monitor looks at pre-existing characteristics of society that are affected by climate change and maps the level of vulnerability and expected impact as implied by the effect that real or projected changes in the climate. The analysis is built around 4 "impact areas", and 5 "levels of vulnerability", focusing on the years 2010 and 2030.According to the report, the estimated figures of impacts are yielded from the Monitor’s specific methodology
Methodology
Methodology is generally a guideline for solving a problem, with specificcomponents such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools . It can be defined also as follows:...
and represent additional impacts due to climate change. They give a "snapshot" of what is expected to already be taking place and what might occur in the near future. According to the authors, the Monitor represents just one possible way of measuring climate vulnerability that they expect can be improved upon.
4 Climate Impact Areas Addressed
- Health Impact - additional mortalityMortality rateMortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time...
from climate-sensitive diseases - Weather Disasters - additional mortality and damage in stormStormA storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...
s, floodFloodA flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s and wildfireWildfireA wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s - Habitat Loss - additional loss of human habitat to rising sea levels, desertificationDesertificationDesertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
- Economic Stress - extra losses in the primary/agricultural sectors of the economy and key natural resourceNatural resourceNatural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
s
5 Climate Vulnerability Factors
- Acute (most vulnerable category)
- Severe
- High
- Moderate
- Low (least vulnerable category)
Findings of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor 2010
The report claims that climate change fuelled by human activities is already interfering with the climate, leading to effects that are dangerous for people and the planet. According to the report, the rate of change and effects of heat, wind, rain, deserts, sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
, and other impacts result in 350,000 deaths per year. The report states that the effects of climate change could contribute to the deaths of 5 million people by 2020 and cause as many as 1 million deaths per year by 2030 if global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
isn't slowed. Heat, wind, and water shortages put pressure on the habitat of approximately 2.5 million people. Storms, floods, and wildfires are estimated to leave an additional $5 billion in damage each year, while rising seas cost 1% of GDP to the lowest-income countries – 4% in the Pacific – with 65 billion dollars annually lost from the world economy
World economy
The world economy, or global economy, generally refers to the economy, which is based on economies of all of the world's countries, national economies. Also global economy can be seen as the economy of global society and national economies – as economies of local societies, making the global one....
.
The report further states that most impacts are highly concentrated on children and the poor with the majority of the death toll is concentrated on children living in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
or South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
, and that gradual, not sudden, impacts from climate change causes more than 90% of all damage. Over 80% of people at risk from climate-caused desertification reside in high-growth emerging economies such as China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
The report also states that half of the economic impacts of climate change are felt in industrialized countries. However, lower-income countries suffer much greater relative stresses to their economies, mainly due to larger, less-robust agricultural sectors. Just 15 countries are considered acutely vulnerable to climate change today, collectively suffering nearly half of all climate impacts. Recognized fragile or failed states like Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, and Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
are among the worst affected. An average of just 24 countries are assessed as having the most severe factor of vulnerability for each main impact area of health, extreme weather, habitat loss, and economic stress. In every case, some two thirds of the total global impact falls on just 10 countries.
The report states that 20 more years of inaction could lead to nearly 1 million climate-related deaths each year by 2030. The number of acutely-vulnerable countries could more than triple over that period. Economic costs could increase to $100 billion of stress on the world’s coastlines, $150 billion worth of primary-sector and natural resource losses, and $10 billion in storm, flood, and wildfire damages—a third of a trillion dollar annual economic crisis.
Background
DARA (international organization) and the Climate Vulnerable ForumClimate Vulnerable Forum
The Climate Vulnerable Forum is a global partnership of countries disproportionately affected by the consequences of global warming as a result of heightened socio-economic and environmental vulnerabilities that actively seek a firm and urgent resolution to a current intensification of climate...
created the Climate Vulnerability Monitor to advance understanding of the growing negative effects of climate change on society and to identify a variety of key options to meet this new challenge.
The Climate Vulnerable Forum is a global partnership of leaders of countries most vulnerable to climate change actively seeking a firm and urgent resolution to the growing climate crisis. It was founded by President Mohamed Nasheed
Mohamed Nasheed
Mohamed Nasheed is a Maldivian politician. He is the current President of the Maldives. He is the founder of the Maldivian Democratic Party and was its presidential candidate in the October 2008 presidential election, defeating long-time President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in a second round of voting...
of the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
and first met in November 2009. The Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum adopted then expressed alarm at the rate of changes and danger witnessed around the planet due to the effects of anthropogenic
Anthropogenic
Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the environment includes impacts on biophysical environments, biodiversity and other resources. The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object resulting from human activity. The term was first used in the technical sense by Russian...
global warming and called for urgent international cooperation to tackle the challenge. The countries include Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, Kiribati
Kiribati
Kiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population exceeds just over 100,000 , and is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, straddling the...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and Maldives.
DARA is an international organization based in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and founded in 2003 by Silvia Hidalgo. According to its website, the organization aims to improve the quality and effectiveness of aid for vulnerable populations suffering from conflict, disasters, and climate change.
Documents
Climate Vulnerability Monitor 2010: The State of the Climate CrisisExternal links
- DARA
- Commons Consultants
- Climate Vulnerable ForumClimate Vulnerable ForumThe Climate Vulnerable Forum is a global partnership of countries disproportionately affected by the consequences of global warming as a result of heightened socio-economic and environmental vulnerabilities that actively seek a firm and urgent resolution to a current intensification of climate...
- Climate Change in Kiribati