Rich will save themselves in ‘climate apartheid’ while poor suffer, UN report says | CBC News
The
report, submitted to the UN Human Rights Council by its special
rapporteur on extreme poverty, Philip Alston, said business was supposed
to play a vital role in coping with climate change, but could not be
relied on to look after the poor.
report, submitted to the UN Human Rights Council by its special
rapporteur on extreme poverty, Philip Alston, said business was supposed
to play a vital role in coping with climate change, but could not be
relied on to look after the poor.
“An over-reliance on the private
sector could lead to a climate apartheid scenario in which the wealthy
pay to escape overheating, hunger, and conflict, while the rest of the
world is left to suffer,” he wrote.
He cited vulnerable New
Yorkers being stranded without power or healthcare when Hurricane Sandy
hit in 2012, while “the Goldman Sachs headquarters was protected by tens
of thousands of its own sandbags and power from its generator.”