SDG 1 is all about poverty, how we can reduce it, and the impacts that it has. When considering poverty, it is vital to consider the clear link between poverty and climate change, which is exactly what this blog is going to talk about, including the different aspects of climate change, and how they affect those that are particularly vulnerable in poverty.
Increase in natural disaster and extreme weather events
Over 96% of disaster-related deaths in recent years have occurred in developing countries, where there are significantly higher rates of poverty. For these vulnerable developing countries, an extreme weather event such as a hurricane can push back progress by several years to several decades, because of the difficulties that occur for being able to build back to the previous state. This map shows where the most extreme weather events occur, 7 of the countries which are in the top 10 are developing countries, and 3 are classified as least developed countries, as by the IMF and the UN. This is extremely concerning, as these countries not only struggle economically, but are at risk of falling even further behind in the case of extreme weather events. Sadly, this is already the case for some of these countries, such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, from which they still have not recovered. The situation is similar in Puerto Rico, where Hurricane Maria occurred in 2017, becoming the deadliest hurricane in US history. But why is this the case? As said by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change): “A changing climate leads to changes in the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration and timing of extreme weather and climate events, and can result in unprecedented extreme weather and climate events…”.
This map shows a variety of extreme weather events that have occurred since around 2011, and identifies the different types of extreme weather events, and whether there appears to be human influence. Of the 405 events currently recorded, 70% were found to be made more likely or more severe by human-induced climate change. This means that those that are suffering as a result of an extreme weather event, have had it worsened by climate change.
Food scarcity
The most common type of extreme weather event shown on the map is extreme heat, representing 33% of the cases shown. Extreme heat particularly affects those in rural areas that grow their own crops, if a harvest fails it could result in no food for the family or to be able to sell, causing them to fall into poverty. This is part of the reason that world hunger rose in 2016, after 15 years of continuous progress. The greatest increase has been in Sub-Saharan Africa, where several uninterrupted years of drought have had severe impacts on agricultural output, particularly of crops. In Zimbabwe for example, over 7 million people required food aid in 2019, yet the crop harvest was significantly worse in 2019 than 2018. The world’s reality is striking, agricultural output is expected to decrease by 30% in the next few years, but demand for food is expected to increase by up to 98% by 2050, putting many small-scale farms at risk. It is also important to consider however, that we do have enough food in the world, but around one third of all food is wasted before it can be consumed, which is particularly damaging in countries that are able to produce and receive sufficient food, but do not have the necessary means of preserving and handling all of the food. This is where SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, comes in to clearly link to SDG 1.
SDG 12.3 aims by 2030 to "halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses." The combination of progress in SDG 12.3 and climate change adaption, there are many opportunities to make progress in SDG 1, by ensuring that all of the world’s population have access to one of the most basic requirements, food. This also, of course, links to SDG 2, Zero Hunger.