Climate change 'dystopian future already here', UN warns

The United Nations human rights chief on Monday issued a grim warning about the “environmental horror” being suffered by countries on the frontlines of climate change – adding that food insecurity and human rights crises were now a lethal reality.

World Food Programme employee walks between sacks of food at the Um Rakuba refugee camp which houses Ethiopian refugees fleeing the fighting in the Tigray region, on the Sudan-Ethiopia border in Sudan on 29 November, 2020. © Reuters - Baz Ratner (File photo)

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Turk said that climate change was threatening to create a dystopian future of hunger and suffering for millions of people, destroying hopes, opportunities, homes and lives.

The planetary crisis was being played out places such as Basra, in Iraq, where "drought, searing heat, extreme pollution and fast-depleting supplies of fresh water are creating barren landscapes of rubble and dust", he said.

The spiralling damage was a human rights emergency for Iraq and many other countries, he said, adding that around the world more than 828 million people had faced hunger in 2021.

"We do not need more warnings. The dystopian future is already here. We need urgent action now," Turk said.

Global failures

The rights chief was speaking after the G20 at the weekend failed to commit to a phase-out of fossil fuels despite supporting the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Urging world leaders to act to curb emissions and help vulnerable communities become more climate-ready, Turk underlined the link between global warming and conflict – noting that food insecurity and resource scarcity risked fuelling violence and displacement.

“Our environment is burning. It’s melting. It’s flooding. It’s depleting. It’s drying. It’s dying,” he said.

"Every development goal is grounded in equality and human dignity."

At the opening of the 54th session of the @UN Human Rights Council, @UNHumanRights chief @volker_turk stressed that "freedom is both the goal of #sustainabledevelopment and its source."#HRC54 pic.twitter.com/Y7j2Ig4wVB

— United Nations Human Rights Council | 📍 #HRC54 (@UN_HRC) September 11, 2023

• More than 6 million people a step away from famine in Sudan, UN warns

• Climate change threatens 'truly terrifying' future, UN rights chief says

Sudan response

Meanwhile the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation on Monday launched an emergency response plan to address growing food insecurity in Sudan, where four months of conflict have put six million people on the brink of famine.

The plan provides communities with emergency seeds and livestock treatment kits, as well as veterinary and fisheries support and equipment. It is expected to help meet the cereal needs of up to 19 million people for the upcoming 2023 harvest.

“Millions of people across the Sudan are facing a battle for survival as the food security crisis worsens”, Hongjie Yang, the FAO’s representative in Sudan said.

“This emergency response plan aims to provide farming, herding and fishing families with the basics they need to keep production going and feed themselves and their communities.”