Those who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods are among the most vulnerable to climate change – they also happen to be among the world’s poorest. This column argues that policymakers have a duty to help them adapt. It adds that the near-term poverty effects of climate-mitigation policies could even be more significant than climate change itself.
Even though much has been written about climate change, and about poverty, as distinct and complex problems, the link between them has received little attention. This is odd for two reasons:
- The majority of the poor live in rural areas where agriculture is the predominant form of economic activity, and agriculture – particularly in the tropics – is one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate change (see World Bank 2010).
- At the same time, these regions offer some of the greatest potential to contribute to mitigation – particularly for forest carbon sequestration, but also for agricultural practices.
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