Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. It threatens food production, causes floods and droughts, and increases the risk of landslides and erosion. It also exacerbates conflict and terrorism.
As a result, global crises are driving millions of people to flee their homes, leaving behind their families and friends. The United Nations, through OCHA, leads efforts to bring the world together to tackle humanitarian crises and save lives.
People’s reactions to global crises are shaped by their political orientation, which predicts their attitudes toward national and international institutions and how they will behave in crisis management. For example, liberals’ beliefs about human rights are associated with their support for reducing global environmental impacts, and conservative beliefs are associated with tolerance of military actions aimed at combating international terrorism (Cohrs et al. 2016).
Jeffrey Sachs, an American economist who holds numerous positions in the UN, explains that four factors are driving the global crisis: geopolitical multipolarity, economic convergence, an energy crisis and an environmental crisis. Sachs believes these global threats are intertwined, resulting in a dangerously unstable world. The consequences of these crises are devastating for many people around the globe, who are condemned to lives blighted by constant conflict, failing economies and extreme environmental catastrophes.