Climate Vulnerability Monitor published – Oxfam reaction

Responding to the release of the second Climate Vulnerability Monitor report on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly today, Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam International said:

"The new report is another reminder that climate change's most savage impact is hunger and poverty.

"The economic and social costs of political inaction of unchecked climate change are staggering. The losses to agriculture and fisheries alone could amount to more than $500 billion per year by 2030, heavily focused in the poorest countries where millions depend on these sectors to make a living.

"Behind the statistics are the stories of real families and communities, for whom climate change means putting children to bed with empty stomachs.

"This report shows that climate change is already contributing to around 400,000 deaths due to hunger and communicable diseases each year. It shows that inaction on climate change will ultimately be measured in the lives lost and life chances stunted by hunger, malnutrition and a food system stretched to breaking point.

"World leaders must act now to prevent an era of climate change driven hunger and poverty. They must cut greenhouse gas emissions and help poor farmers, who feed millions across the developing world adapt."