Press releases

"This report shows world leaders are still failing to address the climate crisis —our planet is currently on track for a catastrophic global temperature rise of 2.5°C. Scientists are clear: it’s now or never to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Climate change is causing suffering across the world, and it will continue to do so. People are already being pushed from their homes, and are facing hunger and drought, floods, and other climate-induced disasters.”

Responding to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) updated NDC Synthesis Report, Oxfam France’s Advocacy Manager Armelle Le Comte said: “This confirms we are still dangerously off track from limiting global warming to the vital 1.5°C limit. The climate clock is ticking ever closer to midnight and COP26 now needs to be a planetary crisis meeting. Governments need to agree to revise their climate plans more regularly to get us back on track. Remedial action is desperately needed now —there is no later or better time."

One person is likely dying of hunger every 48 seconds in drought-ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, according to estimates by Oxfam and Save the Children in a report published today highlighting the world’s repeated failure to stave off preventable disasters. 

As the climate talks in Durban enter the final day the emerging deal remains uncertain. But the catastrophic climate impacts the world faces if tough and ambitious decisions are not taken within the next 24 hours are crystal clear.

Oxfam response to the Special Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (laun

Climate negotiations stuck: US becoming key obstacle on the road to Copenhagen. Rich countries have not put serious money on the table to help poor countries adapt to the escalating impacts of climate change.

$200bn could mean the difference between success and failure in Copenhagen, as the UN climate summit begins in the city today. The Summit marks the culmination of two years of international negotiations on a deal to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Oxfam attended the World Business Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen, to get them to push governments for more ambition and specific targets to tackle climate change. The Summit reported back on May 26 with a disappointing result.

Leaders of the world’s major economies meeting in Washington must urgently address the action rich countries will take on global warming in order to revitalize international climate talks and tackle the serious climate impacts facing vulnerable developing countries.

Following Typhoon Rai, hundreds of thousands of families are spending the new year in cramped evacuation centers, some being confined in rooms hosting seven families at a time, according to Oxfam.

Millions of people in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, already hit by damage from last month’s monster hurricane Eta, are now facing an even bigger crisis from Iota, a category five hurricane that made landfall overnight on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast.

In response to the latest figures shared in OCHA's Burkina Faso Humanitarian Response Plan, Oxfam warns of the alarming deterioration of the humanitarian crisis and calls upon the international community to immediately mobilize funding to meet the urgently needed humanitarian support.  More than 1.9 million people in Burkina Faso are in dire need of water, sanitation and hygiene support. 

"The establishment of a loss and damage fund is a monumental achievement for vulnerable developing countries and communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis. They have been calling for funding to cope with the devastating impacts of climate change for over 30 years.

As the US, Ethiopia and European Union coalesce around a climate finance package of $100 billion, Oxfam is calling for rich countries to provide at least $200bn a year in new money to help poor countries adapt to a changing climate and reduce their emissions.

Progressive businesses must continue to speak up in support of a strong climate deal in Copenhagen or risk allowing their head-in-the-sand competitors to derail the talks, cautioned Oxfam today, ahead of high-level events on the private sector’s role in tackling climate change.

The chance of a successful Paris climate deal depends on rich countries showing they have kept their past commitments, especially the promise they made in Copenhagen to jointly mobilize $100bn of climate financing per year by 2020, warned Oxfam today.

In response to the United Nations Environment Program’s Adaptation Gap Report 2023, Nafkote Dabi, Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Lead, said: “The report underlines how the gap in adaptation funding —at its ‘highest ever’ amid accelerating climate breakdown— must be addressed with the utmost urgency next month in Dubai."

As the Earth Day Summit concluded, Oxfam applauded President Biden for convening world leaders in an effort to increase global climate ambition, lower emissions, and build resilience. However, more action is needed to avert dangerous climate change impacts that are already disproportionally harming those who are most vulnerable.

In its proposed new Renewable Energy Directive, the European Commission has given in to the pressure of the biofuel industry lobby at the expense of people and the climate. The proposal would allow EU countries to rely on food-based biofuels to meet their 2030 climate and energy targets, notwithstanding strong evidence of their harmful impact on communities and the environment.