As scientists prepared to release the most important international report on climate change since 2001, international anti-poverty agency ActionAid said that the effects of climate change are already being experienced by poor people around the world.

Yasmin McDonnell, emergencies policy adviser at ActionAid said: "Poor people in many parts of the world are experiencing the effects of climate change now. Their stories of disastrous floods, droughts and unpredictable weather show the real meaning of the global changes that the scientists are observing. And what the scientists are predicting is that it will get much, much worse."

The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report is expected to contain new, refined scenarios for climate change and rising sea levels. ActionAid has released a new report Unjust Waters which documents poor communities’ experiences of flooding in six African cities*.

The report identifies four different kinds of urban flooding, shows how floods are preventing poor people improving their quality of life, and recommends actions which will help poor people to protect themselves against floods.   

*Accra, Freetown, Kampala, Lagos, Maputo, Nairobi. A summary of the report was published in November 2006.

Unjust Waters can be downloaded here.