Climate change is not simply about the environment. It touches every aspect of development, affecting the poor disproportionately.
Rapid population growth and urbanization are putting significant pressure on valuable and increasingly scarce resources such as water, energy, food, and land. By 2030, almost three-quarters of the world's population will be living in urban areas. Climate change exacerbates this pressure, making it critical to rethink the way resources are used and allocated. Left unaddressed, it is a development crisis in the making.
Consider that it takes an average of one liter of water to produce one calorie of food. Since it is expected that agricultural productivity must rise 70 percent by 2050 to meet the needs of a growing world population, the pressure on water is tremendous. Yet climate change effects are expected to further diminish the world’s water supply. For those who depend on farms, forests, and fisheries to sustain a daily living, this becomes a question of survival.
See full Press Release: http://www1.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/ifc+news/news/tos_climatechange
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