Corruption and climate change are interlinked
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At the foot of the Andes in Peru, the lands are getting dryer. The Huilca family eke a living out of increasingly arid lands which used to be watered by a glacier that has shrunk by a third in the last 25 years. Until now they have survived by creating a shallow stream from a natural spring four kilometres away. This precious lifeline was made possible by special funds Peru received as part of global efforts to adapt to climate change.
As world leaders meet in Lima, Peru, for the latest round of climate talks, they should remember the consequences it is already having for my country. The Huilca family are fighting part of a national struggle to protect biodiversity and livelihoods against an increasingly erratic climate. A struggle exacerbated by rampant corruption.
The Huilcas are able to bring water to their farm and maintain their way of life, because some of the $90 million in climate funds that international donors have given to Peruvian authorities reached an NGO that in turn assisted this family at the foot of the Andes. In many other countries, corruption has choked even the trickling streams of support for the most vulnerable.
The ten most climate-vulnerable countries in the world score no higher than 40 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 (100 representing very clean and 1 highly corrupt), which was published on Wednesday.
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