Climate change will reverse years of work reducing poverty in the developing world without strong, urgent action, according to a report.

The report produced by independent sustainability experts Forum for the Future, an independent, non-profit organisation with a mission to promote sustainable development, explores how climate change will transform low-income countries over the next 20 years, causing profound social, economic and political transformations as well as major environmental impacts.

The Future Climate for Development has called on governments and NGOs to build climate change into their economic development programmes to help low-income countries manage its impacts and seize new opportunities as the world shifts to a low-carbon economy.

“Without urgent action, climate change threatens to undo years of work tackling poverty in the developing world,” said Stephen O’Brien, International Development Minister.

“That is why the UK is now working across the globe to help the world’s poorest people prepare for the potentially devastating effects of climate change and shift to the clean technologies that are so vital to a stable, successful future for us all.”

“This report will act as an important tool to help poor countries plan for an uncertain future, and underlines our need to build climate change into everything we do,” O’Brien added.

“Climate change and development should be seen as complementary, not competing, issues,” said Peter Madden, chief executive of Forum for the Future.

“By putting climate change at the forefront of development thinking we will not only help the world's poorest to avoid serious risks, but we can also help them seize new opportunities to create better lives for themselves. Development aid should be much more climate resilient,” he added.

The Future Climate for Development calls for low-income countries and all those who work in development to look for “win-win” opportunities which address climate change and tackle development goals like reducing poverty and improving health and education.

It argues that aid must not be blind to climate change, ignoring measures to help countries adapt to its impacts and promoting high-carbon development.

Climate change will transform countries and reshape the global economic and political landscape, it says, and this must be factored into development decisions to ensure they continue to yield benefits in the long-term.

The report is designed to be a practical tool to help governments, NGOs, businesses and policy makers in developed and developing countries “future-proof” their strategies and plan for a range of possible outcomes.

It examines key issues which will affect low-income countries over the next 20 years and explores how these may play out for the world of 2030. – TradeArabia News Service