LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Climate change is already exacting a daunting toll

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Climate change is already exacting a daunting toll

By Paul Dickinson

Financial Times; May 07, 2004

Sir, It is hard for me to understand what environmental "safeguards" Sir Mark Moody-Stuart proposes to reduce the impact of climate change caused by burning oil and particularly coal ("A warning for the World Bank", May 4). Emil Salim is to be congratulated if he persuades the World Bank to stop subsidising activities that accelerate climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has persistently warned that countries "mired in poverty" will be hardest hit by global warming. The World Health Organisation estimates 150,000 deaths and 5.5m disability-adjusted life years were caused in 2000 because of climate change.

This terrifying and intractable problem is still in its infancy.

Paul Dickinson, Brighton, UK