Representational Image. (File | EPS)
Representational Image. (File | EPS)

75-95 million more on verge of extreme poverty due to climate change, COVID: Report

The report finds that about 1 in 10 people worldwide are suffering from hunger and nearly 1 in 3 people lack regular access to adequate food.

NEW DELHI: The climate crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and an increased number of conflicts around the world could lead to an additional 75 million to 95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022, compared with pre-pandemic projections, according to The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022, released by the United Nations on Thursday.

The report finds that about 1 in 10 people worldwide are suffering from hunger and nearly 1 in 3 people lack regular access to adequate food. Immunisation coverage dropped for the first time in 10 years, and deaths from TB and malaria increased.

According to the latest data presented in the report, the Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the Goals and its effects are still far from over. Global “excess deaths” directly and indirectly attributable to Covid-19 reached 15 million by the end of 2021.

“More than four years of progress in alleviating poverty have been wiped out, pushing 93 million more people worldwide into extreme poverty in 2020. An estimated 147 million children also missed more than half of their in-person instruction over the past two years,” it said.

On the impact of climate change, the report finds energy-related CO2 emissions for 2021 rose by 6 per cent, reaching their highest level ever and completely wiping out pandemic-related declines.

“To avoid the worst effects of climate change, as set out in the Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to peak before 2025 and then decline by 43 per cent by 2030, falling to net zero by 2050. Instead, under current voluntary national commitments to climate action, greenhouse gas emissions will rise by nearly 14 per cent over the next decade,” it added.

The war in Ukraine is creating one of the largest refugee crises of modern time. As of May 2022, over 100 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes.

Projected global economic growth for 2022 was cut by 0.9 percentage point, due to the war in Ukraine and potential new waves of the pandemic.

Cost of conflicts and pandemic

The world is approaching the midway point of the pursuit to achieve the transformational 2030 Agenda set by the United Nations.

The latest progress report however indicates that the world is far off track meeting the Goals by 2030 and alarming happenings have been noted from various parts of the world.

Temporary school closures during the Covid-19 crisis left 1.6 bn children unable to learn 91 per cent of students worldwide including nearly 369 mn who rely on school meals for daily nutrition.

There is a requirement for a wholesale transformation of education systems towards those that place student needs at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Million of students in low- and middle-income countries lack access to learning equipment and the Internet.

Before the pandemic, 17% of youth were out of primary and secondary school. From March 2020 to February 2022, schools were entirely or partially closed, on average, for 41 weeks, with 147 mn children missing half of their in-person instruction.

Further, 10 mn girls may be pushed into child marriage by the end of the decade.

An estimated 100 mn people have fallen into poverty, with 9 mn at risk of child labour by the end of 2022.

Due to the pandemic, the world faces nothing less than an education crisis, amid budget cuts, student dropouts and teachers leaving the profession due to poor conditions, low salaries and unmanageable workloads.

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The New Indian Express
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