Jean Lambert Statement for Refugee Week 20 - 26 June

18 leading NGOs this week drew attention to the crucial link between the issues of climate change and poverty in Africa, in an important new report, Africa - Up in Smoke?

It is clear that poverty will not be alleviated, development will not be sustainable and trade policies will never become 'pro-poor' if the poorest communities remain vulnerable to increasingly volatile climactic conditions. Under conditions of global warming, desertification, threats to reliable local water supplies, loss of land due to rising sea levels and crop reduction will undermine the livelihoods and very existence of small scale farmers across much of the poor parts of the world – and that clearly means Africa. The risk of conflict over scarce resources will rise.

It is significant that the NGO report is launched in Refugee Week. It is vital that we offer protection and not persecution to asylum seekers. Refugee week is an important opportunity to call for this, and to denounce governments such as our own that prefer persecution to protection. We must also ask why people are forced to leave their homes and families and seek asylum and address those factors.

For some time I've been drawing attention to the phenomenon of 'environmental refugees' – those people who are displaced and forced to leave their homes, not because of conflict or war, but because their environment has become so degraded or damaged that they can no longer survive there or make a livelihood.

If Tony Blair and the other world leaders are serious about these issues they must acknowledge that they interconnect. Action on Africa and action to ensure that people are not tragically forced to become refugees will only be effective if there is tough and extremely far reaching action on climate change.