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Climate change challenges

Douglas Alexander
THIS year has seen millions of people face drought in Ethiopia; 11 million people affected by flooding in India; and up to 128,000 people killed by the cyclone that struck Burma. Scientists predict that such weather events will only become more frequent and more extreme as a result of climate change.
In December last year I visited Bangladesh and met people who had lost their homes, their possessions and in many cases their loved ones in Cyclone Sidr. I was humbled and inspired by the courage and solidarity they showed in the face of such devastation.
A woman named Lotifa told me how her family home and all that was in it had been destroyed by the cyclone. We spoke at the ramshackle lean-to made of corrugated iron that she and her two young children now called home. Yet the little her family had — that basic shelter, and the relief parcels with blankets, cooking pots and soap - they shared with her friend Hafisa, and her two children.
At a centre run by Save the Children, I met a five-year-old girl, Topo, who lost both of her parents in the cyclone. She told me not of the hardships she faced, but of her hopes and dreams to become a dancer when she is older.
Last week, the UK and Bangladesh governments came together in London to examine the steps that
must be taken to help people better prepare for extreme weather, and to tackle the climate change that will make cyclones, droughts and floods more frequent and more devastating.
Environmentalists coined the phrase "think global, act local." In responding to climate change, we need to act both locally and globally. British aid is helping the people of Bangladesh to adapt to changing weather patterns: helping farmers to turn to fishing; raising homes on plinths in flood-prone areas; and creating floating gardens to protect crops.
We are also helping the government of Bangladesh to prepare for the worst - indeed when cyclone Sidr struck, some 40,000 volunteers with megaphones and bicycles helped to get more than three mil- lion people out of harm's way.
The people of Bangladesh may be on the front line of climate change, yet they cannot battle against the rising tides alone. We need to reach a fair and ambitious deal in Copenhagen next year that includes a long-term goal to stabilise greenhouse gases at a level that will avoid dangerous climate change. The G8 meeting in Japan in July laid die groundwork for such an agreement, with leaders committing to a cut in emissions of at least 50 per cent.
The world now has a duty to rise to the challenge and ensure that we support the poorest people of the world - least responsible for climate change - to prevent and prepare for its cruellest consequences.
It is often said thatwe must aetto tackle dimate change out of an obligation to future generations. I believe we have an obligation to our own generation
Douglas Alexander is UK Secretary of State for International Development