A Changing Environment for Human Security

19  REDD+ and the global discourse on climate change and poverty

Desmond McNeill

Introduction

With global warming the world has encountered the ultimate “global environmental threat,” one which undeniably affects all people and requires concerted action by all countries. It is a grim irony that those who will suffer most from climate change are generally those that are already among the poorest in the world, and have done least to cause the problem (Leichenko and O’Brien, 2008). The nations of the world are, however, beginning to recognize the threat and are responding, albeit perhaps too little and too late. Climate change has suddenly and dramatically changed the nature of the long-running and complex relationship between countries of the “North” ...