Uprooted trees remain after flood waters have receded in Aceh, northern Sumatra, on 14 December. Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
Christian Aid annual report’s top 10 disasters amounted to more than $120bn in insured losses
Cyclones and floods in south-east Asia this autumn killed more than 1,750 people and caused more than $25bn (£19bn) in damage, while the death toll from California wildfires topped 400 people, with $60bn in damage, according to research on the costliest climate-related disasters of the year.
China’s devastating floods, in which thousands of people were displaced, were the third most expensive, causing about $12bn in damage, with at least 30 lives lost.
The true losses are likely to be much higher, as only the insurance costs could be reliably measured. The human costs, in lives, displacement and lost livelihoods, are uncounted.
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Joanna Haigh, emeritus professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, said damaging events were increasing in frequency and intensity owing to the human-made climate crisis. “The world is paying an ever-higher price for a crisis we already know how to solve. These disasters are not ‘natural’ – they are the inevitable result of continued fossil fuel expansion and political delay,” she said.
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The bill for extreme weather damages will continue to rise until the world slashes greenhouse gas emissions and phases out fossil fuels, added Christian Aid’s chief executive, Patrick Watt.
“These climate disasters are a warning of what lies ahead if we do not accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels,” he said. “They also underline the urgent need for adaptation, particularly in the global south, where resources are stretched and people are especially vulnerable to climate shocks.”
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Israeli tanks were pictured near the Israel-Lebanon border on September 28, 2024. (Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
“Despite the Israeli government’s serious escalation in Lebanon and indiscriminate bombings in Gaza and the West Bank, President Biden continues to funnel billions in lethal military aid.”
Israeli forces appear poised to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon within days following a sustained bombing campaign that has killed more than a thousand people—including dozens of children—and displaced more than a million, heightening fears of a large-scale humanitarian disaster and a wider war that could consumer the entire region.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has already carried out what were described as “limited ground incursions” across the Lebanese border, but a larger invasion could be imminent given the positioning of Israeli troops and rhetoric from top Israeli officials.
“We will use all the means that may be required—your forces, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and on land,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli troops on Monday.
The mayor of a Christian-majority Lebanese village located roughly six miles from the Lebanon-Israel border toldReuters that locals “had received calls apparently from the Israeli army telling them to evacuate the area as soon as possible.”
Humanitarian groups have warned that a full-scale ground invasion would be a disaster for the Lebanese people, many of whom have seen their lives upended by Israeli attacks over the past two weeks.
“We are gravely concerned about the possibility of an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon,” said Julie Mehigan, Christian Aid’s head of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. “The patterns we’re seeing from the attacks of the last few days are reminiscent of what we’ve seen in Gaza these last few months. Massive displacement and killing of civilians, whole families killed in their homes, and schools converted into shelters. All the while Gaza is continually being bombed from land, air, and sea.”
“We are on the precipice of yet another humanitarian calamity in the region,” Mehigan added.
“Not only is this administration sending more bombs aimed at them and other civilians, they’re also helping Netanyahu cover up his crimes. It’s despicable.”
The Biden administration, which provided the 2,000-pound bombs that Israel used to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and dozens of civilians in an attack on Beirut late Friday, is reportedly prepared to give Israel approval to move troops into Lebanon as long as the invasion is “limited.”
But the Israeli government, headed by far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly disregarded the Biden administration’s stated conditions. As The New York Times observed Monday, the administration wanted the Israeli military to “eschew major combat operations” in the southern Gaza city of Rafah earlier this year. The IDF went on to launch a massive assault on the city, rendering it uninhabitable.
Akbar Shahid Ahmed, HuffPost‘s senior diplomatic correspondent, reported Monday that the Biden administration is unlikely to “veto” Israeli plans for a ground invasion of Lebanon and noted he is hearing a “growing sense” that “an Israeli invasion of Lebanon with U.S. backing (based on the idea it will be limited) is coming.”
Spoke with several sources in the last ~ hour who did not believe a decision has been made on an Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
But clear all around a US veto is unlikely.
A career US official working on the ME told me Washington's permitting "a nihilistic regional murder spree."
The possibility of an imminent Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon has heightened concerns of a full-blown regional war with potentially devastating global implications. Hezbollah has pledged to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of Nasrallah, and Iran—which has thus far acted with restraint—could also decide to intervene as Lebanon’s government works to prevent the military conflict from spiraling.
Craig Mokhiber, a human rights attorney and former director of the New York office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, wrote on social media Monday that “as Israel continues its genocide in Palestine, expands its murderous rampage into Lebanon (perhaps even launching a ground invasion to ethnically cleanse the south) the West cheers and arms them, Arab governments sleep, the U.N. looks the other way, the [International Criminal Court] stalls, the Global South offers only symbolic objections, and the world is dragged passively toward WWIII.”
Israel’s intensifying assault on Lebanon has sparked fresh calls for a halt to U.S. arms transfers to the Israeli military, which relies heavily on American-made weaponry.
Maurice Mitchell, national director of the U.S.-based Working Families Party, said in a statement Monday that Israel’s ongoing attacks on Lebanon “mark an extreme escalation that further threatens the stability of the region” and expressed support for an effort led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to block recently approved arms sales.
“Despite the Israeli government’s serious escalation in Lebanon and indiscriminate bombings in Gaza and the West Bank, President Biden continues to funnel billions in lethal military aid to the Israeli government without conditions, including $8.7 billion last week,” said Mitchell. “This coupled with new reports that the Israeli government violated international law by deliberately blocking humanitarian aid to families in Gaza underscores the urgent need to stop the flow of offensive weapons to the Israeli government.”
Abbas Alawieh, a Lebanese American from Michigan and a co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement, said Monday that “every hour, I get messages from my family in Lebanon, asking when the American-funded bombs will stop.”
“Not only is this administration sending more bombs aimed at them and other civilians, they’re also helping Netanyahu cover up his crimes,” said Alawieh. “It’s despicable.”
Trucks carrying aid supplies to Gaza are seen at the Karem Abu Salem border crossing on February 17, 2024. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Over 11 months, we have reached shocking levels of conflict, displacement, disease, and hunger,” said one campaigner.
Israel’s “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip “is driving a humanitarian disaster,” with 83% of required food aid failing to enter the embattled enclave, where the entire population is facing hunger and disease and almost half a million Palestinians are at risk of starvation, an analysis published Monday revealed.starvation,
The analysis by 15 international aid organizations noted that a record-low average of just 69 aid trucks are entering the Gaza Strip each day, compared with an already insufficient 500 daily truckloads a year ago. Additionally, the groups said that “only 17 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional, and “critical infrastructure such as water networks, sanitation facilities, and bread mills” have been destroyed.
“While Israeli military attacks on Gaza intensify, lifesaving food, medicine, medical supplies, fuel, and tents have been systematically blocked from entering for almost a year,” the aid groups—which include ActionAid, American Friends Service Committee, CARE International, Christian Aid, Islamic Aid, Oxfam International, and Save the Children—said in a statement.
New data reveals: 83% of required food aid does not make it into #Gaza, up from 34% in 2023.
This means people in Gaza have gone from having an average of two meals a day to just one meal every other day.
The publication highlights numerous ways that “lifesaving aid is systematically obstructed on a daily basis” in Gaza.
“These include the denial of safety, with more than 40,000 Palestinians and nearly 300 aid workers killed since last October; the sharp tightening of a 17-year blockade to a full siege, which prevents aid from entering Gaza; delays and denials which restrict the movement of aid around Gaza; tightly restrictive and unpredictable control of imports; the destruction of public infrastructure such as schools and hospitals; and the displacement of civilians and humanitarian workers,” the analysis’ authors wrote.
Zenab, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman pregnant with her second child, said that her pregnancy “has been the hardest time of my life.”
“It was also hard to get the medication I needed,” she continued. Sometimes I had to walk for hours to different pharmacies, hospitals, and health centers to see if anyone had my medication available. For me as a pregnant woman, there has been hardly any healthcare support, no proper hygiene and sanitation, and no suitable mattress to sleep on.”
“I was suffering from complications during my pregnancy,” Zenab added. “We didn’t have enough water to drink, and had hardly any food. The doctors again told me that my pregnancy was in danger.”
Among the report’s key findings:
83% of required food aid doesn’t make it into Gaza, up from 34% in 2023;
An estimated 50,000 children aged between 6-59 months urgently require treatment for malnutrition by the end of the year;
65% of the insulin required and half of the required blood supply are not available in Gaza;
Availability of hygiene items has dropped to 15% of the amount available in September 2023, with 1 million women now going without the hygiene supplies they need;
Only around 1,500 hospital beds in Gaza remain operational, compared to around 3,500 beds in 2023 which was already well below sufficient to meet the needs of a population of more than 2 million people; and
1.87 million people are in need of shelter with at least 60% of homes destroyed or damaged as of January, yet tents for around just 25,000 people have entered Gaza since May 2024.
“There is a shortage of all humanitarian items. We are overwhelmed [with] these needs and [these] urgent requirements,” said Amjad Al Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network. “People [are] starving due to the shortage of aid. One hundred percent of the population depends on humanitarian aid.”
The authors of the analysis—which was released ahead of this week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York—are demanding that Israel secure an immediate and lasting cease-fire. They are also calling for an arms embargo on Israel and Israeli compliance with the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion, which found that the occupation of Palestine is an illegal form of apartheid that must end immediately. Israel is on trial for genocide in a separate ICJ case.
“The situation was intolerable long before last October’s escalation and is beyond catastrophic now.”
“The situation was intolerable long before last October’s escalation and is beyond catastrophic now,” CARE International West Bank and Gaza country director Jolien Veldwijik said in a statement. “Over 11 months, we have reached shocking levels of conflict, displacement, disease, and hunger.”
That includes dozens of children who have died due to malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of adequate medical care.
“Aid is still not getting in, and humanitarian workers are risking their lives to do their jobs while attacks and violations of international law intensify,” Veldwijik added. “Aid, which is urgently required for 2.2 million people at risk of dying in the coming weeks and months, should never be politicized. We demand an immediate and sustained cease-fire, and the free flow of humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza.”
Upwards of $100trn of global spending on the green transition is typically estimated as being required by 2050. Credit: Thaiview/Shutterstock.
The Climate Damages Tax proposes a fee per tonne of CO2 embedded within the domestic extraction of coal, oil and gas.
A new report has claimed that a tax on the extraction of fossil fuels could raise $720bn by the end of the decade for to support the green transition in the world’s poorest countries.
Led by Stamp Out Poverty and backed by the likes of Greenpeace, Climate Action Network and Christian Aid, the Climate Damages Tax report, published earlier this week, examines the proposal that OECD countries, in particular members of the G7, should “lead in introducing a fee per tonne of CO2 embedded (CO2e) within the domestic extraction of coal, oil and gas.”
The report outlines that, if introduced in OECD countries in 2024 at a low initial rate of $5 per tonne of CO2e increasing by $5 per tonne each year, the tax would raise a total of $900bn by 2030. This, it says could be split so that 80% ($720bn) went to the newly established Loss and Damage Fund for helping developing countries with in responses to climate losses and damages and 20% ($180bn) was retained by countries for use domestically.
Certainly, ways to ensure money finds its way to transition efforts are necessary, with upwards of $100trn of global spending typically estimated as being required by 2050 – and some estimates being closer to $300trn.
David Hillman, director of Stamp Out Poverty and co-author of the Climate Damages Tax report said of the proposed tax: “This is surely the fairest way to boost revenues for the Loss and Damage Fund to ensure that it is sufficiently financed as to be fit for purpose.”
Displaced Palestinian children are pictured inside a makeshift tent in Rafah, Gaza on March 13, 2024. (Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images
“There is nothing humanitarian about Israel’s proposal to push civilians into ‘humanitarian islands’ in Gaza.”
Aid groups reacted with alarm Thursday to the Israeli military’s stated plan to transfer much of the population of Rafah—a small city in southern Gaza that’s currently packed with more than 1.5 million people—to so-called “humanitarian islands” in the central part of the enclave.
William Bell, the head of Middle East policy and advocacy at Christian Aid, called the proposal “a preposterous idea” that the international community must reject in favor of an immediate, permanent cease-fire and a massive surge of humanitarian assistance.
“The half-baked plan to force more than a million displaced civilians out of Rafah into so-called ‘humanitarian islands’ further north beggars belief,” said Bell. “And the suggestion that they will be safe simply cannot be given credence.”
“How long will it take to build and equip these islands? And how much longer to get people to them?” Bell asked. “With Gaza on the brink of famine, children dying of malnutrition, and desperate families reportedly eating grass to survive, men, women, and children need lifesaving aid now.”
“The past five months have taught us that places labeled ‘safe zones’ in Gaza quickly become death zones.”
During a news briefing on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the planned humanitarian zones would be created in concert “with the international community,” but he did not provide specifics or a timeline.
Ahead of a planned ground invasion of Rafah, Hagari said the IDF intends to direct a “significant” portion of the city’s population—most of which is living in makeshift tents—to designated areas in central Gaza, where he claimed they would be provided with temporary housing, food, and other necessities that Israel has systematically restricted.
Given that Rafah was once considered a relatively safe area for Palestinians displaced by Israel’s assault and is currently under IDF bombardment, aid campaigners expressed deep skepticism that the plan outlined by Hagari is in any way viable or humane.
“There is nothing humanitarian about Israel’s proposal to push civilians into ‘humanitarian islands’ in Gaza,” said Melanie Ward, CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians. “They are dangerous and must be stopped. The past five months have taught us that places labeled ‘safe zones’ in Gaza quickly become death zones.”
An investigation published Wednesday by the London-based research firm Forensic Architecture shows how the Israeli military has used supposed humanitarian measures to advance its assault on Gaza’s civilian population.
The investigation details the IDF’s repeated bombardment of so-called “safe zones” to which it has instructed desperate Gazans to flee and makes the case that Israel’s evacuation orders have functioned “as a tool of mass displacement, pushing civilians into unlivable areas that later come under attack.”
NEW INVESTIGATION: Since 7 Oct 23, the Israeli army has weaponised humanitarian measures such as ‘evacuation orders’, ‘safe routes’ & ‘safe zones’ to support their military operations & facilitate the mass displacement of Palestinians.
“Military evacuation of civilian populations is only legal under select, rare circumstances, and requires that displaced civilians be temporarily relocated to areas safe from conflict and with access to fundamental provisions for their safety and survival,” the Forensic Architecture analysis said. “Where Israel’s evacuation orders might individually be framed as humanitarian in nature, in fact when closely analyzed and considered over time, they reveal patterns of systematic mass displacement, with Palestinians deliberately and repeatedly being expelled from one unsafe and under-resourced location to another.”
“A ground invasion in Rafah,” the research firm argued, “would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation for the 1.5 million displaced Palestinians taking refuge there.”
In an interview this past weekend, U.S. President Joe Biden said that an IDF incursion into Rafah would cross a “red line”—a remark that the White House has since tried to walk back after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the planned assault would go ahead.
Asked about Israel’s “humanitarian islands” proposal on Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, “We can’t confirm that that is in fact a plan that they have.”
“Our position has not changed,” Kirby said of a potential Rafah invasion. “We do not want to see large-scale operations in Rafah… unless there is [a] legitimate, executable plan to provide for the safety and security of the civilians that are there.”
