Climate change under the spotlight after Vanuatu cyclone

(Vatican Radio) International aid agencies have stepped up appeals for cyclone-hit the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. They say the storm has wiped out crops and destroyed fishing fleets, raising the risk of hunger and disease.

The United Nations said the official death toll was 11, but many officials anticipate that number will rise.

Meanwhile,

The cyclone in Vanuatu has put the spotlight on the connection between natural disasters and climate change.

Listen to Lydia O'Kane's interview with Christian Aid’s Climate Change Advisor Dr Alison Doig

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction revealed earlier this month that 87 per cent of all natural disasters over the past 10 years have been climate-related.

Speaking to Vatican Radio about this link, Christian Aid’s Climate Change Advisor Dr Alison Doig said that, “in terms of the climate change risk I take advise from scientists and what they’re saying is that there are some of the highest winds that have ever been recorded, if not the highest winds that have ever been recorded of this type. They are exceptional and they are exactly in line with the climate modelling that they have done… so we are going to see a lot more of these events (like Vanuatu) if we do not deal with climate change quickly.”

She also speaks about how the Church can play its part in tackling the issue of global warming. “This year we know that the Pope will release an encyclical calling for the moral action for climate change to say, ‘Yes, we know it’s happening, it’s our moral duty to act’, and I think that a number of the Churches around the world are starting to look at divestment, getting their own investments out of fossil fuel, so I think this year there is a lot happening and I think that that encyclical will be a call to action ahead of the big meeting in Paris at the end of the year.”