Aid Cuts, Climate Change Hit South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda - Voice of America - VOA News
Aid Cuts, Climate Change Hit South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda
Plans by a United Nations agency to cut food aid beginningJuly 1 for refugees in Uganda, Africa’s biggest refugee host, are expected to worsen their struggle with food shortages from climate change. The U.N.’s World Food Program says aid cuts leave them no choice but to help only the most vulnerable. Halima Athumani reports from Palorinya refugee camp in Obongi district, Uganda. Camera: Francis Mukasa
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”