Climate Change FAQs

The environmental effects of climate change have major consequences for people all around the world. People living in poverty are most vulnerable, especially those who live in low-lying coastal areas such as islands in the Pacific. Climate change makes life harder and more dangerous for them, and adds to existing problems like food insecurity and water scarcity. 

We’ve already seen that droughts, cyclones and floods are more frequent, destroying homes and livelihoods. Seasons are less predictable and crops are failing, pushing millions into hunger. Sea levels are rising, forcing women, men and children to leave their homes and land. 

The social and economic impacts of climate change are making it more difficult for people to enjoy their basic human rights, including those related to food, health, water, housing and adequate standard of living.

World Vision is working to tackle climate change through the work we do with communities as well as by advocating to Government to accelerate their efforts.

We are committed to helping communities prepare themselves for climate change. Our work is focused on building communities’ resilience to the effects of climate change, for example through disaster preparedness planning and improving food and water security measures. We are also working to increase environment-enhancing development activities such as reforestation, agro-forestry, and conservation farming in World Vision’s programmes.

World Vision further advocates with governments to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and fulfil their climate-related commitments under the Paris Agreement as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

Climate change is happening, and it is affecting the poorest communities that World Vision works with, especially those in New Zealand’s Pacific backyard. We know the most vulnerable, especially children, are the most susceptible to the devastating effects of climate change and changes to their environment are already affecting their lives.

In the Pacific Islands coastal infrastructure and land is being lost, there are more intense cyclones and droughts, crops and coastal fisheries that families rely on are being impacted, alongside coral reefs and mangroves that support the ecosystems on which families rely.

Climate change threatens the future generations of Pacific children. Because they are still growing, children are at greatest risk of the impacts of climate change on food supply. The greatest killers of children – malnutrition, diarrhoeal disease and malaria – will increase because of climate change.

A healthy environment is the basis for the future of children.

Climate change is a social problem, not just an environmental one. Many of the countries the most exposed to extreme weather events and a changing climate are also those facing the most significant barriers to adapting to its impacts - and these are countries where World Vision works.

  In these regions, climate change is threatening food security, agriculture, water supplies, economic stability and health, especially among children. For example, extreme weather events can spread diseases including diarrhoea, leptospirosis, cholera, and typhoid through exposure to contaminated water or decreased hygiene due to water shortages. These diseases have the potential to kill children.

On top of this, climate change is causing large scale displacement of people within countries and sometimes across country borders. This climate-related migration poses major health risks to those on the move. Without proper planning, migration can place people in dangerous and precarious living situations. Migrating also threatens communities’ connections with their lands, livelihoods, and cultural heritage.

These overlapping issues can be addressed directly through World Vision’s work. World Vision is working alongside communities, including in the Pacific, to strengthen their resilience to climate impacts so that they can remain in their homelands. The organisation is also partnering with women, children, and people with disabilities to strengthen their participation in decision-making and boost their disaster preparedness. At the same time, World Vision is taking actions that reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions to avoid climate change’s most severe effects.