Red Cross refocuses on threat of climate change

Yahoo News 22 Jan 08;

The international Red Cross said on Monday it will refocus its budget and aid appeals for the coming year to better meet the growing threat of climate change and associated natural disasters.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched an appeal for 326 million Swiss francs (292 million dollars, 198 million euros) for 2008, saying that some three quarters of this aid will go towards health operations and disaster management.

The aid agency expects to launch another appeal for the same amount of money for 2009.

"For many people, climate change tends to be seen as more of an environmental, scientific or political issue," IFRC policy and communications head Encho Gospodinov told journalists.

"We believe it must also be seen as a humanitarian issue, first and foremost, an issue that is already impacting on the lives of millions of vulnerable people around the world," he added.

IFRC secretary general Markku Niskala said that the number of weather-related natural disasters, such as droughts and floods, has risen to around 400 each year in the last two years, from an average of 200 per year in the last decade.

"Climate change is also having a very real and very worrisome impact on water supplies, on food production and even on health crises," he said.

The IFRC said that changing weather patterns and melting glaciers are already threatening water resources, while changes in temperature and rainfall are expected to seriously damage agriculture in future years.

"The impact of climate change on disasters, on health crises -- on vulnerability in general -- emphasises the importance of making communities stronger and more resilient," Niskala said.