June 15, 2009
On May 29, the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF) launched its 'Human Impact Report' in London, which was presented by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Barbara Stocking, a member of the report's advisory panel.
According to the GHF, the "Human Impact Report is the first consolidated volume specifically and exclusively focused on the adverse impacts of climate change on society across the world ... [and] includes estimates on the numbers of deaths and casualties as a result of climate change, as well as making projections 20 years into the future."
The report alleges that climate change is responsible for 300,000 deaths each year, currently places half a billion people at 'extreme risk', and has displaced 20 million people. Estimated economic loss attributed to climate change, the report claims, is USD 100 billion. In 20 years' time, the annual death toll is expected to rise to half a million people, while economic loss is expected to rise to USD 300 billion, the report claims.
"The role of this report is to document the greatest ongoing silent crisis in human history," Annan said in his opening remarks.
According to the document, the vast majority of climate change-related deaths occur because of rising Earth temperatures, contributing to desertification and rising sea levels. GHF data also shows that 99 percent of fatalities occur in so-called 'developing' countries, nations which contribute a mere 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gases.
