Evicted by the climate

ENVIRONMENT
Ciara Kirrane on the fate of Santa Rosa de Aguan

Who is fed up hearing about climate change? Are you tired of hearing you shouldn't fly to Dubai for the fourth time this year or that you shouldn't drive the SUV to the local shop? Is anyone more than a bit frustrated with how inconvenient composting, cycling and all other low-carbon activities are? Now imagine you're a farmer from rural Kenya. Imagine the inconvenience of having your crops fail for the third year in a row. Imagine the inconvenience of not knowing when the next rains will come so that you can plant and hopefully provide for your family. Imagine the inconvenience of having to worry about your safety now you have to walk further to find water because your wells have dried up.
     Last December I went to Central America and saw the impacts of climate change first-hand. Two days into the trip I found myself standing on a beach on the Caribbean coast of Honduras, watching the sky get darker and greyer and the wind and waves get stronger. It was the end of the hurricane season and not quite how I imagined my first encounter with the Caribbean would be.
     I was in Santa Rosa de Aguan, one of the most remote places I'd ever been. It's a village on a little piece of land jammed between the sea and the mouth of the Aguan river. The only way of getting there is by boat. The people here are really poor. They have few ways to earn a living; most rely on a family member migrating to the islands for the tourist season. Ten years ago the small community here was devastated by Hurricane Mitch – 35 people lost their lives and almost all homes and possessions were washed away. Since then things have only got worse.
     Today they face more hurricanes and tropical storms than ever. The place is completely exposed. Sea on one side; river on the other. No easy escape route and no natural defences against rising sea and river levels. Globally, almost three times more disasters have been recorded in the last decade compared to the 1970s. In a region already vulnerable to extreme weather, climate change poses a serious threat to the people of Honduras, and in particular the people of Santa Rosa. They experienced three hurricanes last year and lost a number of homes because land is being washed away by flooding from the river. How many more they'll lose remains to be seen.
     Injustice is at the very heart of the climate problem. The people who are suffering the most from its impacts have done the least to cause it. It's not like they had cars in Santa Rosa de Aguan. In Ireland, we emit 17.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person per year; in Malawi the figure is half a tonne. Yet Malawi is at risk of seeing its crop production fall by 80% in the next few years because of a lack of rain. Seven hundred million people in India alone are at risk because they rely on sectors that are sensitive to, and directly affected by, changes in the climate such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
     The poorest people – the rural farmers and the city slum dwellers – are being faced with new climate challenges that people in western society might struggle to cope with. These people's lives were challenging enough to start with. Intergenerational poverty, discrimination, lack of access to education and healthcare – not to mention unfair trade rules, loans and exploitative industries imposed by the developed world – have ensured these people remain poor. Now their poverty is being further entrenched by the impacts of climate change.
     Fortunately we know how to solve the problem. Industrialised countries, who bear the historic responsibility for climate change, have to cut their emissions dramatically and provide adequate support to developing countries so that they can deal with the consequences. And this second point is key. Industrialised, wealthy nations have caused the damage, now we have to pay compensation to those whose lives we've turned upside down. But this isn't some charitable donation; it's not overseas aid. It is a moral obligation. The impacts are being felt now, in some of the poorest communities across the developing world. We can't reverse that, so we have to make sure those experiencing it first-hand have a way of coping, something that will ensure they are not further impoverished. And, by the way, we have committed to do this. We've even pledged a few billion. Not quite enough, but at least it's an acknowledgement of our responsibility. But while the poorest struggle to build flood defences, shelters on high ground or grain storage facilities – preparing for the next flood or drought – the money that wealthy nations owe is lying idle in bank accounts or on budget sheets.
     Climate change has been labelled the biggest threat facing humanity today. The international response simply isn't good enough. It's supposed to be based on equity and fairness. But we're failing the poor, yet again. Promises made are being reneged upon, or just ignored. The people of Santa Rosa de Aguan haven't long left there. Over the last few years the place has just become too unsafe to live. They'll have to leave the place they've called home for generations and find somewhere new – until of course that place is no longer a feasible option either. We know how to solve the problem of climate change. We have the means. We just don't have the will. We are hiding behind the poor and letting them face the consequences of our actions. Where is the equity and fairness in that?

Ciara Kirrane was runner-up in the 2009 Young Ireland Programme