Mozambique is one of the countries most at risk from the effects of natural disasters and climate change. A recent report by the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) set out in terrifying detail the potential impacts of climate change on Mozambique, if left unchecked. The report illustrates a ‘worst-case’ scenario in which high sea level rise could see the Maputo port and railway links underwater by the middle of the century, with the city of Beira cut off altogether from the interior. Variability in rainfall, increased flood risk, drought and uncontrolled fires are just a few of the other challenges that the Mozambican people will increasingly face.

Climate change is not an issue for tomorrow. The world can no longer afford to see it that way. It is already affecting people across the globe, many of whom did not contribute to creating the problem in the first place. It has become one of the greatest threats to global poverty reduction. If not addressed properly, climate change will set back global human development and could reverse any achievement made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

And the cost of climate change will be economic as well as human. Leading economists point out that, if immediate action is not taken to address climate change, this could be equivalent to losing 5 to 20% of global GDP each year.

This Friday is World Environment Day and the theme chosen by the United Nations Environment Programme is ‘Your Planet Needs You’. The message could not be clearer. It reflects the urgency for nations to reach a new agreement at the crucial climate meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later and the links with overcoming global poverty.

Globally the means exist to address these issues, including through technological innovation and international financing. But this will mean little without political will.

That is where developing and vulnerable countries have an important role to play.

What can vulnerable countries do?

Over the coming months, in the run-up to the UNFCCC meeting at Copenhagen in December, vulnerable countries have a unique opportunity to help drive political mobilisation for an ambitious, equitable and comprehensive post-2012 agreement.

Rich countries are huge consumers of raw materials from developing countries. As developing countries are affected by climate change, their supply of raw materials might reduce as a consequence of the lack of water and natural disasters that affect producing regions. So vulnerable countries have a strong interest in making clear the need for low carbon growth in rich economies.

While there is no immediate pressure on the most vulnerable to reduce emissions, those countries should also recognise that prices and costs will reduce as efficient technology becomes more widely used in a greater variety of countries. Its use will benefit vulnerable countries in the longer term, as well as helping reduce emissions by the richer countries more immediately. A future climate change agreement is likely to include international finance for low carbon development that could benefit vulnerable countries. All countries have the right to develop their economies but they also have a role to play in contributing to lower average per capita global emissions by 2050.

Vulnerable countries should continue to forge links between the different affected regions and continents. Last week the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) met to develop a common negotiating position on the post-2012 agreement. A strong and unified African ‘voice’ will have particular strength at the negotiating table in Copenhagen.

Individually, vulnerable countries must lead on their own answers to tackling the impacts of climate change. Putting climate change as an integral part of development, instead of dealing with it as a separate challenge, is a positive starting point. The UK (with other donors) is assisting a number of developing countries, including Mozambique, to integrate adaptation into their development programme through the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR). Tomorrow the Instituto Superior de Relações Internacionais (ISRI) will host a public debate in Maputo exploring the potential impacts of climate change across government and the need for a multi-sectoral approach to tackle these problems.

What now?

We are now well into the “year of negotiations”. Governments must work together towards an equitable outcome. This should include ambitious emissions cuts in developed countries, commitment by developing countries to significantly reduce emissions below “business as usual” and agreed flows of finance to fund adaptation and mitigation in developing countries.

As UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, said recently, “Together we must press governments to ‘seal the deal’ for a new climate agreement”.
World Environment Day takes place on 5 June 2009. More information is available on www.unep.org/wed/2009.