Oxfam International’s blog

Oxfam is just one of the 35 development and environment organisations, who have worked together to produce “Up in Smoke” - a series of reports looking at the impacts of Climate Change on development. The fifth report in the series has just been launched, with a foreword from R K Pachauri, PH.D, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and focuses on the Asia Pacific region.

Countries in this region make up 60 percent of the world’s population, half of which live near coastal areas, making them very vulnerable to rises in the sea levels and other changes in climate. The report shows that the impacts of Climate Change are not just limited to the environment, but also have the capacity to reverse the gains, that many countries in the region have made in reducing poverty. Whilst looking at the challenges faced in the Asia-Pacific region, “Up in Smoke? Asia-Pacific” also looks at the positive measures being taken by governments, civil society and the public, to reduce the causes of climate change and to overcome its effects.

Read a summary of the report on Oxfam International’s website or download the full report as a PDF.

Just days before the Asia “Up in Smoke” report were released, one of the most vulnerable countries in the region was hit by a severe cyclone.

As Oxfam International’s, Bert Maerten noted when he said, “Bangladesh features prominently in the report as a country where millions of poor people, etching out a living on farmlands and coastal areas, are already bearing the brunt of man-made climate change. While cyclones of this magnitude reveal the extreme vulnerability of poor communities, the ongoing erratic weather conditions experienced the world over mean a daily struggle for the millions of poor people who rely on the land and sea for their survival. Oxfam wants to see governments taking both mitigation and adaptation efforts seriously now and in the future.”