About 190 countries are participating in the climate conference in Durban, at the southern door of the African continent particularly affected by climate change, in order to find a solution to combat climate change and mitigate its consequences.
About 12.000 delegates, ministers, experts, non-governmental organizations and journalists are expected at this 17th annual UN climate conference, which will end on December 9.
The future of the Kyoto Protocol, the only international treaty that obliges some XNUMX industrialized countries to reduce emissions, is set to be the main topic of the meeting, along with issues such as financial aid that could be used by the most vulnerable countries.
Recent storms and droughts that have caused a spike in food prices are only a "sad harbinger" of what will happen when climate change becomes more intense, the non-governmental organization Oxfam says.
Ahead of the opening of the UN conference on climate change in Durban, South Africa, the report of that British organization reminds us of the spike in wheat and corn prices caused by extreme weather events that have brought millions of people to the threshold of poverty in the last 18 months.
"Such a situation will worsen with the acceleration of climate change, and the consequences of this will be reflected in agriculture," says Oxfam expert Kelly Dent.
"When one weather change causes a price spike, it affects the poorest doubly. They have to deal with rising food prices, and in those natural disasters they probably lost their homes and livelihoods, arable land and livestock," adds Dent.
Due to heat waves during 2010 in Russia and Ukraine, the prices of wheat on the world stock market rose by 60 to 80 percent in three months.
According to data from Oxfam, in April 2011 those prices rose by as much as 85 percent compared to their price in June last year.
Maize prices in Ethiopia and Kenya increased by 191 percent and 161 percent, respectively, compared to the average of the last five years, which clearly reflects the effects of droughts on the Horn of Africa.
During the same period, hurricanes and storms in Southeast Asia caused a spike in rice prices in Thailand and Vietnam. In September and October, those prices increased by 25 to 30 percent compared to their level from the previous year.
Oxfam recalls the research of the group of climate change experts, Gik (Giec), who recently warned that climate warming has already increased the frequency of heat waves and heavy rainfall that cause floods and that these phenomena will become more frequent.
That British non-governmental organization calls on the countries participating in the meeting in Durban to commit even more to drastically reduce pollution and provide a fund intended for the poorest countries.
That so-called "Green Fund", which should annually provide around 2020 billion dollars to the poorest countries from 100, will be one of the main topics of the meeting in Durban.
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