What we do today about climate change has consequences that will last a century or more. The part of that change that is due to greenhouse gas emissions is not reversible in the foreseeable future. The heat trapping gases we send into the atmosphere in 2008 will stay there until 2108 and beyond. We are therefore making choices today that will affect our own lives, but even more so the lives of our children and grandchildren. This makes climate change different and more difficult than other policy challenges.

“One generation plants a tree; the next generation gets the shade.” (Chinese Proverb)
“You already know enough. So do I. It is not knowledge we lack. What is missing is the courage to understand what we know and to draw conclusions.” (Sven Lindqvist)

Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean is one of the most remote locations on Earth. The gigantic stone statues located in the Rono Raraku volcanic crater are all that remain of what was a complex civilization. That civilization disappeared because of the over-exploitation of environmental resources. Competition between rival clans led to rapid deforestation, soil erosion and the destruction of bird populations, undermining the food and agricultural systems that sustained human life. The warning signs of impending destruction were picked up too late to avert collapse.

“The countries most vulnerable are least able to protect themselves. They also contribute least to the global emissions of greenhouse gases. Without action they will pay a high price for the actions of others.” (Kofi Annan)
“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.” (Nelson Mandela)

Climate science deals in measurement. Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are weighed in tonnes and gigatonnes. Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere are monitored in parts per million (ppm). Confronted with the data, it is easy to lose sight of the human face of the people who are most vulnerable to climate change—people such as those quoted above.
The human face of climate change cannot be captured and packaged in statistics. Many of the current impacts are impossible to separate from wider pressures. Others will happen in the future. There is uncertainty about the location, timing and magnitude of these impacts. However, uncertainty is not a cause for complacency. We know that climate-related risks are a major cause of human suffering, poverty and diminished opportunity. We know that climate change is implicated. And we know that the threat will intensify over time. In chapter 1 we identify catastrophic future risks for the whole of humanity as one of the most powerful grounds for urgent action in tackling climate change. In this chapter we focus on a more immediate potential catastrophe: the prospect of large-scale human development reversals in the world’s poorest countries.

“We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.” (Albert Einstein)
“Speed is irrelevant if you are going in the wrong direction.” (Mahatma Gandhi)
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” (Helen Keller)

Climate change is an immense, long-term and global challenge that raises difficult questions about justice and human rights, both within and across generations. Humanity’s ability to address these questions is a test of our capacity to manage the consequences of our own actions. Dangerous climate change is a threat, not a pre-ordained fact of life. We can choose to confront and eliminate that threat, or we can choose to let it evolve into a fully fledged crisis for poverty reduction and for future generations.

Access to modern energy services is fundamental to fulfilling basic social needs, driving economic growth and fueling human development. This is because energy services have an effect on productivity, health, education, safe water and communication services. Modern services such as electricity, natural gas, modern cooking fuel and mechanical power are necessary for improved health and education, better access to information and agricultural productivity.
There are wide variations between energy consumption of developed and developing countries, and between the rich and poor within countries, with attendant variations in human development. Furthermore, the way in which energy is generated, distributed and consumed affects the local, regional and global environment with serious implications for poor people’s livelihood strategies and human development prospects1. This paper attempts to examine the linkages between energy services and human development in developing countries. It does so by comparing modern energy use in developed and developing countries and argues that a threshold of modern energy is required to achieve growth and improvement in human development. The paper also assesses the effect of fossil fuel use on greenhouse gas emissions and developing countries’ capacity to adapt to climate change. It discusses the dual challenge of mitigating climate change and meeting the energy demands of developing countries in a sustainable way.

It is now increasingly realised that even with the currently agreed regime of emissions control, concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) are likely to rise over the next few decades and over the millennia. Climate change is likely to threaten all life forms on earth with the extent of vulnerability varying across regions and populations within regions. The impacts however are likely to fall disproportionately upon developing countries, in particular, the poor living within them. Reduced capacities to be able to effectively respond to increased climatic variability and change in the climate exacerbates vulnerabilities.
Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns and numerous other factors will impact both natural and human systems. Climate sensitive sectors like agriculture, forestry, water resources and coastal regions, and, human systems including human health, human settlements, industry and energy sectors will be drastically affected (IPCC 2001).

Climate change mitigation in developing countries is a growing priority for many governments. Much of the current research into this area concentrates on emissions from industry and households. However, in many countries changing land use patterns drives carbon flows into the atmosphere. This Thematic Paper for the UNDP Human Development Report 2007 focuses on tropical deforestation as a major source of rising carbon emissions and wider human development problems in the Brazilian Amazon–the largest area of tropical forests in the world. Consistently with the Terms of Reference, this paper cover five broad themes: (i) the scale, pace and location of deforestation; (ii) an analysis of the factors driving deforestation, including public policies; (iii) how deforestation is contributing to carbon emissions; (iv) the human development effects of deforestation, and; (v) what can be done to address the problem.

Over the last decade, climate change has moved from a peripheral policy issue to centre stage, and from the narrow confines of scientific research to the stuff of everyday politics. Few now deny that climate change is taking place, and few deny that the causes are in large measure anthropological. The debate now has moved on from the question of whether climate change is occurring to how it can be tackled.
It is perhaps not surprising that politicians’ desire to show leadership by signing up to ambitious targets has not been matched by much by way of supporting analysis of the mechanisms and policy instruments to achieve them, and in particular the implications for energy and transport systems.
Part of that lack of detailed engagement with the design of policy is a consequence of a serious underestimation of the scale of the changes required and the costs of achieving them. In this respect, perhaps the most worrying aspect has been the readiness of political leaders to take at face value the conclusion of the Stern Report (Stern 2006) that the costs of mitigation policies may be as low as 1% GDP (or perhaps even less), and therefore the comforting implication that people may not have to adapt much of their lifestyles in order for the problem to be addressed. Current lifestyles and patterns of consumption may need to adjust at the margin, but the 1% challenge is not likely to require a significant...

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to mankind in the twenty first century. Climate change is a complex, multifaceted, multidimensional, long-term, slow onset phenomenon with enormous impacts that touches many aspects of human society including most of its production-consumption processes. Further the impacts of climate change are likely to enhance the vulnerability of many of the societies and communities, particularly those are already vulnerable to climate variability as well as lack of development. Climate change is likely to threaten many development investments and efforts. Besides, the risks of climate variability are likely to be accentuated manifolds by the ensuing and extended climate change. For example, food security, water security and energy security are key elements of development. These combined with health and social securities and increments in freedoms contribute to the development of individuals and communities. The impacts of climate change are likely to impede the process of achieving those securities in many affected communities.