Climate change - FAQs

People in Bangladesh are already suffering increased flooding. [Getty ]

Answers to some frequently asked questions about climate change

Is climate change real, and is it anything to do with humans?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the world’s leading body assessing evidence of climate change - concludes that there is more than a 90 per cent chance that the observed warming since the 1950s is due to increases in greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity.

Every major scientific body, including the Royal Society, asserts that climate change is happening as the result of greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity.

A survey of almost 1,000 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals published between 1993 and 2003 found that not a single one dissented from the consensus view put forward by the IPCC.

There is no doubt that the earth is hotting up: for example, eleven of the last twelve years have been the hottest since records started in 1850.

It is true that the world has experienced warmer or colder periods in the past without any interference from humans – for example, the ice ages.

However, the Royal Society says that the increase of three-quarters of a degree centigrade (0.74°C) in average global temperatures that we have seen over the last century is larger than can be accounted for by natural factors alone.

Climate change models indicate that if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, by the 2050s the global temperature could reach a level not seen since the inter-glacial period, 125,000 years ago.

Who bears most responsibility for climate change?

CAFOD believes that the major burden of carbon reduction should come from developed nations.

Developed countries owe developing countries an ecological debt. Since before the industrial revolution, developed countries have been consuming far more than their fair share of the Earth’s common resources.

CAFOD acknowledges that China and India are both significant contributors to greenhouse gases due to rapid industrialisation. However, developed nations in the west are still the primary polluters.

As a development agency, CAFOD views climate change through a poverty lens and urges developed countries to substantially reduce their emissions.

In line with Catholic social teaching, CAFOD believes in solidarity and the common good. Carbon budgets should be mutually agreed with the international community, and all countries should act to protect the climate on the basis of equality and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

Where possible, alternative and renewable technologies should play a role, supported by industrialising countries which are the world’s main consumers. Promoting ‘off-grid’, sustainable energy should be encouraged as this reduces carbon emissions as well as reducing poverty.

Should I buy green beans from Kenya or those grown locally?

Most people assume that the less distance food has travelled from the farm to your table, the more environmentally friendly it is, as long-distance transport of foods is associated with aviation fuel emissions and lots of packaging.

CAFOD views this issue, too, through a poverty lens. Maintaining consumption of goods from developing countries is essential for their economies, which are often dependent upon a few primary resources and agricultural commodities.

According to recent estimates, more than one million livelihoods in Africa are supported by UK consumption of imported fresh fruit and vegetables.

If the UK chose not to buy African fresh fruit and vegetables, this would only impact on 0.1 per cent of our carbon emissions.

The main share of increases in aviation is due to passenger flights, which account for 90 per cent of total aviation emissions.

Fresh fruit and vegetables grown outside of their normal environment require large amounts of energy to be produced, such as heating and lighting in greenhouses, all of which ratchet up carbon emissions.

Consequently, CAFOD urges its supporters to consider the full implications when buying products. Consumer choices can have a powerful effect.

Should I consider off-setting my flights?

CAFOD understands that our supporters want to do as much as they can to avert climate change. There are many different ways you can do this, and off-setting the emissions from your flights is seen as one method to tackle climate change.

This type of off-setting is voluntary and is not subject to independent scrutiny. Consequently some companies do not pay enough attention to the effectiveness of the projects they run to absorb carbon emissions.

Afforestation projects can also be problematic. For example, projects which involve planting trees to neutralise carbon emissions could be degrading natural habitats or dislocating indigenous peoples.

It is also generally agreed that the potential of trees to store carbon is only temporary.

CAFOD believes that only genuine reduction in GHG emissions through changing behaviour patterns will avert climate change. If supporters wish to offset their emissions, CAFOD would advise that before supporters purchase credits from companies, they should undertake some background research into the company and its projects.

What are CAFOD partners saying about climate change?

CAFOD partners work in poor countries that will be hit first and hardest by climate change. To date, the dominant debates about climate change have been couched in scientific terms and the expertise and analysis largely generated in developed countries.

Hence, the scientific understanding of climate change and its impacts has been relatively inaccessible to partners and communities in the South.

CAFOD is now working to share scientific information and analysis with partner organisations so that they have a thorough understanding of the issues and are able to make informed contributions to the debates around mitigation and adaptation.

Our partners work tirelessly on poverty eradication through programmes designed to reduce the vulnerability of people living in poverty.

As a result, our partners work to assist communities coping with climatic events, such as drought and floods, to adapt their livelihoods and to address the underlying causal factors that leave people extremely vulnerable to gradually changing climate or sudden events.

CAFOD has surveyed some partner organisations in Asia, and found that they are acutely aware of how climate variability is affecting their daily lives, e.g. through reductions in crop yields.

CAFOD is working with partners to reduce their vulnerability to climate change and to share knowledge and expertise about climate change.