Climate Change's Impact on UK Poor: Environmentalists

A newly-formed alliance formed of a number of prominent UK-based environmental organisations including Oxfam, the NEF (New Economics Foundation), Friends of the Earth, the Royal College of Nursing and others has drawn attention to how climate change will have its deepest impact on the poor.

The kinds of houses lived in by the poorest members of society, it said, are typically not as high quality and emit more in the way of emissions that others. What’s more, they are less well-off, so are less able to afford higher-priced food and fuel and, in general, have more restricted access to put buildings/ contents insurance in place, which could be drawn upon in the event of weather-related property damage.

Environmental Health Risks

Another factor highlighted is general good health, which, said the coalition, is less prevalent among the poor, as is access to medical services.

Theoretically, then, if rising temperatures spark a rise in infections, they, in their situation, could be more prone to falling ill than those with better health and with an easier route to obtaining medical assistance.

Anti Climate-Change Schemes

The introduction of anti-climate change schemes like higher fuel surcharges would potentially also be no benefit to those unable to meet them, and possibly detrimental.

At the same time, said the coalition, anti-climate change measures could be immensely beneficial to efforts aimed at reducing UK poverty. To take one example of this idea, improvements in the production and distribution of local food would obviously impact positively on the quality of the food, as well as reducing carbon output.

A shift towards a more environmentally friendly society could open up more job opportunities and, with better forms of transport, air pollution could be reduced and, thus, health improved.

The coalition is calling on the government to guarantee that those beneath the poverty line are not adversely affected by environmentally-geared taxes.

“Climate change will hit the poorest people in Britain first and worst, unless the Government tackles poverty and global warming together”, the NEF’s policy director, Andrew Simms, warned.

He continued: “Direct hits from climate upheaval will exacerbate existing problems with health and poor housing, and introduce new ones.

“Without coherent policies on transport, energy, the environment and social justice, progress in one area could undermine advances in another.

“But a well designed programme of national environmental transformation that creates jobs, makes better homes as well as healthier food and better transport systems, provides a historic opportunity to solve long-standing and deeply entrenched problems of poverty and social injustice.”