There's no doubt the images and stories from our regions devastated by flooding and bushfire hit hard. It's confronting to see, feel and hear the impacts of global climate change so close to home.
In most cases, places like Australia have the opportunities to rebuild and recover. For many, though, the impacts of climate change present obstacles that are impossible to overcome.
The consequences of climate change aren't experienced equally or fairly by everyone – whether that is between genders, rich and poor, or older and younger generations. This is just one of many ways to describe climate justice and climate change inequality. Climate change will continue to disproportionately affect the poorest regions and communities. This is a justice and equity issue, as poorer regions and communities are typically located in countries which have historically emitted the least greenhouse gas emissions.
Who is doing the most harm?
Greenhouse gas emissions from China, the US and the European Union remain the highest in the world. Their emissions individually exceed the total combined emissions from some of the areas most threatened by climate change. These include the Philippines and other small island nations, at risk of rising sea levels and storms, and sub-Saharan African countries, vulnerable to flooding and drought.
Gigatons of carbon dioxide emitted per year
World Resources Institute Climate Watch Data
To compare, developing countries contributed only 20 percent of historical emissions between 1850 and 2002. However, the World Bank estimates these countries will bear the majority (80 percent) of the costs of damages associated with 2°C of warming (such as damage caused by floods, fires, and other extreme weather events). This is particularly harmful, as poorer communities typically have a greater reliance on fields, forests, fisheries, waterways, and other natural resources for their economic and overall wellbeing, which will be increasingly threatened as climate change worsens.
The extra challenges faced by areas most at risk
The Philippines is considered the most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the 2019 Global Peace Index report. This is largely due to its high exposure to natural dangers such as typhoons, droughts, floods, cyclones and landslides. Additionally, the Philippines has a high dependency on climate-sensitive natural resources, supporting livelihoods through natural and marine resources via the fishery, agriculture, forestry, energy, mining and tourism industries. These resources are rapidly depleting, with climate change threatening vital ecosystem services including shoreline protection, soil stability, flood control and biodiversity-rich habitat. With the extensive coastline containing the main cities and much of the population, storm surges are predicted to impact 14 percent of the population. To exacerbate matters, approximately 13 million residents of the capital city, Manila, live in informal settlements, which have been identified as living environments that are extremely vulnerable to climate change.
Countries with the highest risk of climate hazards 2018 by Global Peace Index Report
Developing countries typically have greater infrastructural disparities, which increase the vulnerability of poorer communities, as they are most sensitive to and least equipped to cope with extreme weather events. The means of securing the resources needed to reduce sensitivity, cope, and bounce back after a shock is known as adaptive capacity. Individuals or communities with limited adaptive capacity struggle to respond to both direct and indirect impacts of climate change. This highlights the importance of building adaptive capacity for poorer communities, as it helps them to anticipate, mitigate, or avoid damage, and learn, cope, and recover from adverse events.
Cumulative disadvantage
Another way in which developing countries suffer more from climate change impacts is through exacerbation of cumulative disadvantage. Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage is the systemic likelihood for differences in a certain characteristic (for example money, health, or status) to increase between individuals and groups over time. It emphasises the lack of fairness in the distribution of opportunities and resources, as those with little access to such opportunities and resources fall further behind. Disadvantage accumulates through life and from one generation to the next. This explains how poverty reduces individual and community ability to respond to climate change and increases pre-existing vulnerabilities. In the face of climate change events, poor communities with minimal resources are forced to make decisions that can be detrimental to their health, security, wellbeing, recovery and future development abilities. For example, families are forced to reduce household expenditures by sacrificing spending on food, health and education in order to cope with income losses. This reduction of basic assets depletes human capital. As a result, vulnerable people are at a high risk of spiralling into chronic poverty due to even the smallest shocks associated with climate change. This asset-shedding can have long term, and sometimes permanent, impacts on wellbeing, as human capital depletion reduces productivity and adaptive capacity. This can entrench individuals and communities into a vicious cycle of increasing poverty, therefore increasing their vulnerability. Such cycles are considered a "poverty trap", with impacts often passed through generations. When a natural disaster hits a community, for example Typhoon Mangkhut in the Philippines in 2018, families attempt to repair their dwelling. This may come at the cost of purchasing food, leading to malnourishment of children, who then may suffer from impaired growth, limiting their future education and employment capacity. This is just one way climate change exacerbates pre-existing cycles, as well as forcing more people into poverty, leading to long term, intergenerational suffering.
Where to from here?
As climate hazards increase in frequency and severity, the devastation for poor communities will accumulate, as each shock response reduces resilience and adaptive capacity to the next event. Poor communities' ability to cope with climate change is weakening, suggesting poverty will continue to worsen unless there is major action to enhance human development. This emphasises the importance of big gains against climate change now, both within Australia and worldwide. We need to play a role in pushing for climate change action within our communities and on local, state and federal government levels. Consider writing to your local representative, an MP or a federal politician to pressure them to prioritise the planet, and share your thoughts and ideas on how to do this. Another great way to contribute is to volunteer with an environmental organisation and act on your values at a local level. Any positive change for the planet is worthwhile, and every seemingly small change adds up. As demonstrated in this article, the impacts of polluting activities occurring in Australia are felt globally, and we are often the last to suffer.
Written by Ella De Cesare, RMIT University Bachelor of Environment and Society student
Header Image from
Disclaimer: For the purposes of this article, I have used the terms "developed" and "developing" countries, which I acknowledge are associated with colonial ideas of progress, and I would like to emphasise that by no means do I believe this the terminology paints the whole complex issue perfectly.