The Bishop of Dudley has warned that the world's poorest people stand to lose the most as a result of climate change after the World Economic Forum (WEF) said it was the greatest threat facing the world.
While the latest risk report from the WEF includes geopolitical and economic challenges, it is the third year in a row that climate change has topped the list of dangers to the planet.
In its latest report, the WEF said that 'extreme weather' resulting from climate change was the greatest risk to the world at present, but even second and third place are given over to other climate change challenges - specifically, the failure of mitigation and the threat of natural disasters.
Bishop Graham Usher, who is a member of the Church of England's Environmental Working Group, said the report was 'significant' as he warned that those living in the most deprived areas were set to bear the brunt of climate change.
'It is significant that the threats posed by climate change have been recognised by the world's top economic experts,' he said.
'While this report serves to strengthen calls for urgent action to protect and sustain God's creation, it also highlights the peril of inactivity and delay, which particularly places the economically poorest people in our world at risk of devastating consequences.'
Last October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made a 'final call' for urgent action to stop global temperatures rising above 1.5C.
Scientists warned in the IPCC report that if the world stays on its current trajectory of a 3C increase in temperatures, it will cause a catastrophic rise in the global sea levels and threaten staple food crops.
At the time, the Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, urged the UK government to commit to a target of net zero emissions by 2050, saying that the danger posed by climate change was now 'critical'.
'Extreme weather events happen with increasing frequency, and the poorest are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change which affects us all,' he said.
'For Christians, striving to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustaining and renewing the life of the earth is at the heart of what we believe. We have a narrow window now to act if we are to protect God's creation for generations to come – as individuals, communities and as a global family.'
