As a former refugee from Sudan, Emi is well aware of the over-lapping vulnerabilities affecting people in many regions around the world.
In her poem, her 11-year-old self watches as her neighbour’s home crumbles into flood waters in a country “already locked in turmoil”.
“People are seldom vulnerable in only one way,” she points out. “It’s really important to recognize that a lot of places that are hit by conflict, are hit just as hard by climate change.”
Emi performed her poem at COP26 on November 8, hoping to bring the often-marginalized voices of refugees into the discussions.
“In the end, if a flood is coming, or a hurricane, we’re all equal,” she says. “We should be discussing this equally and affecting change in a way that includes everyone.”
A new AI-based study compares cities’ trees and lakes to how much concrete they have, to gauge their ability to respond to climate shocks.
The IPCC’s latest report on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability made it explicit that people living in informal settlements are the most vulnerable urban populations to climate change.
To mark World Water Day on March 22, UNICEF issued a video answering the questions most vital to the water crisis in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Scientists now say that the combination of rising sea levels, extreme weather events and population change in low-lying areas will put about a billion people at risk from coastal climate hazards beyond 2040. But they’ve also found that cities can offer the best hope of limiting that threat.
