As many as 182 million people in sub-Saharan Africa could die of disease linked to climate change by the end of the century, according to a report by the British and Irish charity Christian Aid, released Monday.
"Many millions more throughout the world face death and devastation due to climate-induced floods, famine, drought and conflict," says the study, entitled "The climate of poverty: facts, fears and hope".
The report highlights the situation in Kenya, where it says climate change is fuelling violence in drought-hit areas.
"Pestilence, floods, famine and war — an apocalyptic collection indeed. But this is what our research says that we can expect in the decades to come," said Andrew Pendleton, climate and development analyst at Christian Aid.
"This is a grave crisis for global society and we need global solutions. We all have a role — international institutions, governments, organisations like Christian Aid and individuals," he added.
Christian Aid is calling on the British government to carry out a number of tasks, including cutting carbon emissions by two thirds of 1990 levels by 2050. It also wants the government to help establish and fund programmes to provide renewable energy to poor communities.
"A switch by sub-Saharan Africa away from development based on fossil fuels to one using energy sources like solar, wind and water, for instance, would not only be better for the environment but could also result in increased jobs, better health and enhanced opportunities for learning," the report said.
"For less money than it would take to pay the region's oil bill for the next decade, every household in Africa could change to clean, renewable energy. Developing technology could even transform the world's most impoverished continent into a net exporter of clean energy," it added.
