The realities of global poverty are very stark. About a billion people around the world — one in six — are now considered chronically hungry, with 24,000 people dying daily of hunger-related causes.

Almost three billion people live on less than $2 a day, more than a billion of which try to survive on less than $1 a day.

More than 16,000 children are dying every day from hunger-related causes — that’s one every five seconds.

The global economic downturn is further increasing poverty. Aid, investment and remittances to poor countries are all falling, leaving many vulnerable people without jobs or enough money to feed their families. Many developing country governments don’t have the means to support their poorest people or implement big fiscal measures to tackle the crisis. The World Bank estimates the economic crisis could trap an additional 53 million people in poverty.

While aid alone is not enough for the poorest countries to escape the poverty trap – quality, long-term aid does make a huge difference. Poor country governments have used aid to scale up spending on education and health to help fight poverty.  And done right, aid can stimulate the global economy, promote global stability, and create goodwill around the world.

We appreciate and support the efforts of Senators Kerry and Lugar to restore cuts made to President Obama’s foreign aid budget. Cutting US foreign aid has ramifications for poor people worldwide that US citizens will pay for long after the financial crisis has ended, as cutting foreign aid can result in a lack of preparedness and an increase in the vulnerability of poor communities when disaster strikes.

While the US spends a relatively small amount of money on foreign aid, we must ensure that every US tax dollar allotted to foreign aid is used effectively to fight global poverty.  The US must reform its foreign aid system to ensure maximum impact and efficiency.

While we are likely to recover from the financial crisis, we are not likely to recover from a climate crisis unless urgent action is taken now. Around the world, millions of people are facing the fact that the impacts of climate change are here to stay – and will intensify.

Present and future unavoidable impacts of global warming are set to threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions – if not billions – of people. They will first halt, and then reverse human development. The poorest, most vulnerable people are being affected directly – first and worst – despite being least responsible for the crisis.

Climate change threatens to increase poverty and inequality and undermine efforts to reach the millennium development goals. Solutions to climate change must be designed with poor people’s needs in mind. We must build climate resilience in vulnerable communities and reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.

Now is the time for bold action to achieve a triple win on climate security, energy security, and poverty reduction around the world. Stepping up efforts to respond to climate change by investing in green jobs, renewable sources of energy, and clean technology could in fact strengthen and transform our global economy. Failing to act now on climate change will mean much greater costs later, not just dollars and cents, but also in human suffering, conflict and lives lost.

This is a crucial time in the fight against climate change and poverty. Just yesterday, Representatives Waxman and Markey introduced a draft discussion bill on global warming and the Obama administration has begun re-engaging in the global climate talks in Bonn, Germany.

Momentum is building toward the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December. We must all— faith leaders, Members of Congress, environmentalists, business leaders and anti-poverty activists— join the fight against global warming.

We at Oxfam are supporting the Mobilization to End Poverty because we know the tremendous power that individuals motivated by their faith bring to the task of creating a better and more just world for all people; and these are precisely the people who will be part of this conference.

Ray Offenheiser is the president of Oxfam America, a non-profit international development and relief agency that works to end global poverty. This post is adapted from remarks he made recently during a media conference call announcing the Mobilization to End Poverty. Click here to listen to audio of the call.