You may know I’ve just returned from Niger. There, tens of thousands
of people are facing extreme hunger because of the droughts of the last
two years.

The rainy season is under way but the rains around the
capital of Niamey have been torrential and persistent. It’s not what is
needed. The water is not nourishing the soil. It’s washing away the
crops. It’s washing away homes. It is destroying lives.

The
trouble there comes as Pakistan struggles to cope with the worst floods
since the creation of the state. Millions of people are homeless. The
UN predicts the devastation will be worse than the Asian Tsunami, which
struck several countries.

Torrential rain has swept through
China. The official death toll is creeping up all the time. It is going
to be in the thousands. Mudslides have brought havoc to many places
across the country’s northwest.

In Russia’s capital, Moscow,
forest fires – started in scorching hot temperatures – have left the
air quality so poor, the authorities are telling people who cannot
leave the city to stay indoors.

In Greenland, a mass of ice has
broken away from a glacier. Four times the size of Manhattan Island;
it’s the biggest iceberg in more than half a century. Scientists say
arctic ice is melting at record pace and 16 countries have recorded
record temperatures this year.

Yet despite the evidence of floods
and flames, of drought and danger, there is no concerted international
action towards reaching an agreement on the best way to fight climate
change.