“Africa’s Climate Roadmap, from Johannesburg through Africa to Copenhagen” was adopted at the twelfth session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-12), which took place from 7-12 June 2008, in Johannesburg, South Africa. In our climate change discussions we highlighted the urgency for Africa to articulate a common position during the ongoing climate change negotiations for a strengthened international agreement beyond 2012, and to exploit the opportunity to build consensus on the complex issues of climate change and sustainable development for the benefit of the continent. Africa agreed to put forward a shared vision based on scientific evidence and broad political consensus. That shared vision would have several key elements: the future climate change regime should accommodate the priorities for Africa of sustainable development, poverty reduction and attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); increased support should be provided under the regime for capacity-building, financing and technology development and transfer for adaptation and mitigation in Africa (the means of implementation); and the agreement should result in the stabilization of emissions in the atmosphere. A deal on climate change requires a deal on development, including Africa.
African Ministers of Environment have repeatedly stressed the importance of giving adaptation a higher priority in order to balance it with mitigation on the international negotiating agenda. Africa will remain vulnerable even if, globally, emissions peak and decline in the next 10 to 15 years. African countries are taking action to address the impacts of climate change. However, our efforts will not be effective without international support. The longer the international community delays in providing support for adaptation programmes in Africa, the more costly it is going to be in the future. No agreement on the strengthening of the international climate architecture, when we meet in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, will be considered balanced if adaptation is not accorded much higher priority. Our deliberations in Johannesburg stressed that a future agreement should emphasize the importance of providing assistance to developing countries with adaptation technologies, finance and capacity building. In particular there is an urgent need to upscale adaptation financing that is new and additional and that does not divert existing official development assistance away from poverty eradication and other development priorities. It is our firm belief that these new sources of finance must be channeled through the Kyoto Protocol’s Adaptation Fund. Political conditionalities on funding African development are unacceptable. In our decisions we have requested the UN agencies, Bretton Woods Institutions, African Development Bank (AfDB) and other development partners to support African countries in taking measures to build economic and ecosystem resilience against climatic variability and change, and to effectively implement the Bali Action Plan.
At the regional and national levels, African ministers have committed to integrate climate change adaptation measures into national and, where appropriate, regional development plans, policies and strategies, with a view to ensuring adequate adaptation to climate change in such areas as water resources, food and energy security, and management of coastal and marine resources. The framework will also include stand-alone adaptation activities, building African capacity to respond to extreme events and changes in the short, medium and long-term. At AMCEN-12, we adopted a wide ranging decision regarding the development of a Comprehensive Framework of African Climate Change Programmes. This Framework will address the critical need to integrate existing and future climate change initiatives and programmes under a consolidated agenda, thereby ensuring greater coordination and coherence in the implementation and review of climate change initiatives and sustainable development plans in Africa. This Framework should be ready for adoption when African Environment Ministers meet next year at a Special AMCEN Session.
In this regard, several important events have recently taken place to solidify an integrated African climate and development agenda.
Africa’s Ministers of Environment and Health took strides toward integrating climate and development when they adopted the Libreville Declaration at the Inter-ministerial Conference for Health and Environment in Africa, held from 26-29 August 2008, in Libreville, Gabon. The Declaration will be submitted to the African Union (AU) Heads of State Summit for consideration and adoption.At AMCEN-12, we launched a call for the modification of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), to enhance its contribution to sustainable development efforts on the continent and to provide increased support for the introduction of climate change mitigation measures and technologies in African countries. African governments, the private sector, civil society and the UN system have gathered in Dakar, Senegal, from 3-5 September 2008, at the first African Carbon Forum to address these concerns. The inequitable geographic distribution of CDM projects must be addressed in the second review of the Kyoto Protocol to be undertaken in Poznań, Poland, in December 2008.
With the window for CDM projects under the first commitment period rapidly closing, African governments and our development partners need to scale-up efforts to maximize the development potentials of the CDM. During the next commitment periods under the Kyoto Protocol, the potential of the carbon market to contribute to low carbon growth and sustainable development will grow by orders of magnitude. If all developed countries took on much more stringent emissions reduction targets, aiming for cuts of 80-95% below 1990 levels by 2050, and if they purchased half of their reductions in the developing world at a carbon price of at least US$10 per ton, then financial flows to developing countries could gradually grow beyond US$100 billion per year by mid-century. Capturing even a modest share of these financial opportunities could make part of the difference in the choice between fossil-fuel energy and more expensive renewable energy sources. But then the international conditions must be in place. And we must also mobilize public funding leveraging private investment beyond carbon markets. More ambitious mid-term targets for emission cuts by all developed countries, towards the upper end of the range of 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020, would be critical to stimulate demand in the carbon market. The need to develop large scale CDM projects in Africa is also important. However, many economies in Africa, where the energy, transport, construction or industrial sectors are in early stages of development, have relatively small mitigation potentials. We must therefore also find ways to seize the opportunities that exist by developing methodologies for appropriate small scale mitigation projects, simple in structure and finance, but with high contributions to sustainable development. The mitigation challenge for most of Africa is about avoiding emissions (rather than emission reductions) – not to follow the dirty development path of the North in order to get cleaner later, but to develop in a more sustainable manner in the first place.
To read the rest portion click:
http://www.iisd.ca/climate-l/bulletin/guestarticle/guestarticle5.html
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
World Vision: Global Leaders ‘Dismally Off-Track’ for Reaching their Own Goals Addressing Poverty
‘Governments Lack Political Will to Implement Programs Preventing Millions of Child Deaths Each Year’. Humanitarian Agency Rededicating Efforts; Earmarking $450 Million for Maternal and Child Health Programs
New York, United States and Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Thursday, September 25, 2008 -- (Business Wire India) As the world’s leaders convene at the United Nations this week, one leading international humanitarian organization contends progress is “dismally off-track” for meeting 2015 goals for helping address poverty and injustice.“If the heads of state, business and financial leaders and others ignore our call and fail to act, the Millennium Development Goals will, quite simply, be unattainable,” says Dean R. Hirsch, president of World Vision International. “This month’s meeting is the last chance for the international community to demonstrate its resolve and honour its commitment to the world’s poorest people.”Hirsch noted that among all eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), reaching numbers four, five and six – reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating AIDS, malaria and other diseases - is foundational to addressing severe poverty in the developing world. Moreover, he noted nations have the resources, including food and medicine.“We have the solutions to implement and thereby prevent the deaths of millions of children each year,” says Hirsch, who is addressing world leaders and UN officials September 25 in a series of meetings on the MDGs. “But governments lack the political will.”The goals were established in 2000. Meetings this week at the UN are a reminder that world leaders are halfway to the date they set to accomplish the goals. For more information on each of the goals, visit, http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.
“Recognising that good health is fundamental to breaking the cycle of poverty, and is foundational to a child’s well being, World Vision has placed community-based maternal and child health at the core of our global health strategy, and we are investing heavily in efforts to help achieve MDGs 4, 5 and 6,” Hirsch said. That investment currently totals about $450 million on health. “World Vision is increasing it commitment with more money and more staff to more effectively target community-based maternal and child health and promote access to primary care,” Hirsch says. “We believe that in three years we can significantly reduce malnutrition for children under five and improve the health of up to five million children.”
Chennai, September 24, 2008: Speaking on the event from Chennai the National Director of World Vision India, Dr. Jayakumar Christian says, “In India, the situation is concerning.” The United Nations Children’s Fund has said that it is a “fundamental truth” that unless India and China achieve major improvements in health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education, gender equality and child protection, global efforts to reach the MDGs will fail.“We strongly urge the Prime Minister, who is attending the event to increase investment in the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) – the largest programme in the world focused on child survival and maternal health to move towards achievement of MDGs 4 and 5,” says Dr. Jayakumar, “All we are asking for is the promise of ‘universalisation of ICDS with quality’ made in the National Common Minimum Programme of the ruling coalition be kept – for the sake of India’s children.”Speaking at various forums on the MDGs, Hirsch notes that if national leaders accept responsibility for the inadequate progress towards the MDGs, and agree to replicate and scale up successes, there is “a genuine possibility of fulfilling the promises made to the world’s poorest people in 2000,” Hirsch says. “This is a moral imperative. Every child who dies in extreme poverty represents an unacceptable loss of human potential.”
Editor’s Note:For greater insight into progress – and lack thereof – in reaching the MDGs, see “Last Chance – Child Health and the Millennium Development Goals,” a report published this month by World Vision at http://www.globalempowerment.org/PolicyAdvocacy/pahome2.5.nsf/alleports/1979C3016C3D6DEF882574CD0021444D/$file/LastChance_WEB.pdf
For press backgrounder on World Vision India click here
Media contact detailsDean R. Owen- New York,World Vision,+1253.906.8645, dowen@worldvision.org
Joy Christina- Chennai,World Vision India,+91 98400 64165,
joy_christina@wvi.org
New York, United States and Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Thursday, September 25, 2008 -- (Business Wire India) As the world’s leaders convene at the United Nations this week, one leading international humanitarian organization contends progress is “dismally off-track” for meeting 2015 goals for helping address poverty and injustice.“If the heads of state, business and financial leaders and others ignore our call and fail to act, the Millennium Development Goals will, quite simply, be unattainable,” says Dean R. Hirsch, president of World Vision International. “This month’s meeting is the last chance for the international community to demonstrate its resolve and honour its commitment to the world’s poorest people.”Hirsch noted that among all eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), reaching numbers four, five and six – reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating AIDS, malaria and other diseases - is foundational to addressing severe poverty in the developing world. Moreover, he noted nations have the resources, including food and medicine.“We have the solutions to implement and thereby prevent the deaths of millions of children each year,” says Hirsch, who is addressing world leaders and UN officials September 25 in a series of meetings on the MDGs. “But governments lack the political will.”The goals were established in 2000. Meetings this week at the UN are a reminder that world leaders are halfway to the date they set to accomplish the goals. For more information on each of the goals, visit, http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.
“Recognising that good health is fundamental to breaking the cycle of poverty, and is foundational to a child’s well being, World Vision has placed community-based maternal and child health at the core of our global health strategy, and we are investing heavily in efforts to help achieve MDGs 4, 5 and 6,” Hirsch said. That investment currently totals about $450 million on health. “World Vision is increasing it commitment with more money and more staff to more effectively target community-based maternal and child health and promote access to primary care,” Hirsch says. “We believe that in three years we can significantly reduce malnutrition for children under five and improve the health of up to five million children.”
Chennai, September 24, 2008: Speaking on the event from Chennai the National Director of World Vision India, Dr. Jayakumar Christian says, “In India, the situation is concerning.” The United Nations Children’s Fund has said that it is a “fundamental truth” that unless India and China achieve major improvements in health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education, gender equality and child protection, global efforts to reach the MDGs will fail.“We strongly urge the Prime Minister, who is attending the event to increase investment in the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) – the largest programme in the world focused on child survival and maternal health to move towards achievement of MDGs 4 and 5,” says Dr. Jayakumar, “All we are asking for is the promise of ‘universalisation of ICDS with quality’ made in the National Common Minimum Programme of the ruling coalition be kept – for the sake of India’s children.”Speaking at various forums on the MDGs, Hirsch notes that if national leaders accept responsibility for the inadequate progress towards the MDGs, and agree to replicate and scale up successes, there is “a genuine possibility of fulfilling the promises made to the world’s poorest people in 2000,” Hirsch says. “This is a moral imperative. Every child who dies in extreme poverty represents an unacceptable loss of human potential.”
Editor’s Note:For greater insight into progress – and lack thereof – in reaching the MDGs, see “Last Chance – Child Health and the Millennium Development Goals,” a report published this month by World Vision at http://www.globalempowerment.org/PolicyAdvocacy/pahome2.5.nsf/alleports/1979C3016C3D6DEF882574CD0021444D/$file/LastChance_WEB.pdf
For press backgrounder on World Vision India click here
Media contact detailsDean R. Owen- New York,World Vision,+1253.906.8645, dowen@worldvision.org
Joy Christina- Chennai,World Vision India,+91 98400 64165,
joy_christina@wvi.org
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Climate Change and India
New Delhi: Climate change is likely to have a much greater impact onIndia than other countries in similar positions, according to anassessment by the South Asia regional office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido).
A Unido spokesperson said here on Wednesday the extra impact on Indiawas due to a unique combination of its geography, diverse populationcharacteristics and extremely high dependence on fossil fuels.
India's dependence on fossil fuels such as coal and oil for energygeneration and transport could lead to heavy environmental, social andregulatory costs, causing a drain on the nation's resources as adirect impact of Climate Change over the next century, says theassessment report.
The assessment is based on the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2007 ofBritain, reports IANS.
According to calculations done by the CDP, cost of climate changecould have a major impact on the Indian economy by causing a 9-13 percent loss in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in real termsby the year 2100.
The report noted that increase in temperature in India could be higherthan the global average, as predicted by the United NationsIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
It said that the country was witnessing rapidly changing andincreasingly unpredictable patterns of monsoon and rainfall andpredicted that a decline in crop yields of up to 30 per cent will benoticed in India and other South Asian countries by 2080.
India would see a rise in sea levels which could submerge coastalareas and also infuse salt water into fresh water sources. This inturn could create a large number of so-called climate change refugeesnot only in India but also from across the borders into the country,thereby leading to further strain on resources, the report pointedout.
It further said that the increased pace of retreating of the Himalayanglaciers would reduce India's fresh water sources in the future.
India will witness an increased incidence of more severe vector-bornediseases such as dengue, bacterial and arboviral diseases andincreased frequency of extreme weather conditions such as droughts andfloods, the report said.
According to the IPCC, India will experience the greatest increase inenergy and greenhouse gas emissions in the world if it sustains eightper cent annual economic growth or more as its primary energy demandwill then multiply at least three to four times its present levels.
A Unido spokesperson said here on Wednesday the extra impact on Indiawas due to a unique combination of its geography, diverse populationcharacteristics and extremely high dependence on fossil fuels.
India's dependence on fossil fuels such as coal and oil for energygeneration and transport could lead to heavy environmental, social andregulatory costs, causing a drain on the nation's resources as adirect impact of Climate Change over the next century, says theassessment report.
The assessment is based on the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2007 ofBritain, reports IANS.
According to calculations done by the CDP, cost of climate changecould have a major impact on the Indian economy by causing a 9-13 percent loss in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in real termsby the year 2100.
The report noted that increase in temperature in India could be higherthan the global average, as predicted by the United NationsIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
It said that the country was witnessing rapidly changing andincreasingly unpredictable patterns of monsoon and rainfall andpredicted that a decline in crop yields of up to 30 per cent will benoticed in India and other South Asian countries by 2080.
India would see a rise in sea levels which could submerge coastalareas and also infuse salt water into fresh water sources. This inturn could create a large number of so-called climate change refugeesnot only in India but also from across the borders into the country,thereby leading to further strain on resources, the report pointedout.
It further said that the increased pace of retreating of the Himalayanglaciers would reduce India's fresh water sources in the future.
India will witness an increased incidence of more severe vector-bornediseases such as dengue, bacterial and arboviral diseases andincreased frequency of extreme weather conditions such as droughts andfloods, the report said.
According to the IPCC, India will experience the greatest increase inenergy and greenhouse gas emissions in the world if it sustains eightper cent annual economic growth or more as its primary energy demandwill then multiply at least three to four times its present levels.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Not playing God in mission
A great interview in Christianity Today with Jayakumar Christian, head of World Vision India (a Christian humanitarian organization, as its website puts it. Interesting to see they have Rajdeep Sardesai's endorsement prominently flashing across the homepage! He's a famous journalist and founder of the 24/7 TV channel CNN-IBN.), on mission, focusing on the work they've done in one district (I suspect it's in Tamil Nadu. I've never heard of Gudiyatham district) in reducing bonded labor by children. He seems very level-headed, humble, deeply committed to the Gospel, and respectful of India's religious heritage as well, including the deep religiosity of India, at a level that most Westerners simply cannot appreciate until they've witnessed it firsthand. Here's some bits that really caught my attention.
But was seeing God in their liberation a theological shift for these Hindus?I don't think it's a theological shift for the average Hindu Indian. For Indians, God is more involved in day-to-day life than most Western Christians' theology would allow. The average Hindu need not be introduced to God in that sense. They need to be introduced to the name of that God—Jesus. I've said many times that we do not need to break our heads in India convincing any Indian about the existence of God. The challenge is, "What is the name of this God who is involved with the poor?" That's where Christian distinctiveness—and divisiveness—is felt. Our privilege in World Vision is being able to call attention to the name of God as Jesus through our lives, relationships, and actions, not in a divisive manner, but in a distinctive manner.Is there suspicion that your development work is a subtext for proselytizing?There is suspicion in certain quarters. But we insist that in World Vision India, we do not trade our God for development. We do not trade our God to buy relationships. He is too precious for us to be bargaining with, too precious to be bargained for. He is not for sale.So proselytizing, conversion through coercive means, is a non-issue for us. Not just because we respect the people we serve. That's one part of the story. But also because we value the God we worship.And here's another part -- about access and linkages. One doesn't think about these things, especially not India's privileged, or even middle classes -- we take it for granted. For instance, the fact that I can speak English -- a sign of education, access, power and status -- opens doors automatically. In the stratified and inherently inegalitarian mileu of India, walking into a bank or talking to an official is a hugely intimidating experience for the poor.
You seem to think about poverty less in terms of prosperity and more in terms of access.The word we use is linkages. Poverty is the absence of linkages, the absence of connections with others. So we look for opportunities to link powerless communities with people with good intentions, people with good hearts—government officials, health officials, panchayat presidents, headmasters in schools—who have an influence in the local area and who mean good. We work closely with them.We also work hard on our own linkages. Here in India, there are government officials in very senior positions who are most willing to design programs that serve poor communities—if we can link with them and help them understand the needs and opportunities there.The next part flows from this -- cultivating the powerful (and the wealthy) as partners in development. Most importantly, I find this attitude absolutely admirable -- to constantly beware of playing God.
The truth is that both the powerful and agents of transformation need to transform our understanding of power. It is not enough to simply play the power game better or more humbly. We need to come deeply to believe that our basis of power is not our professionalism or connections or resources. Those are only tools to be used. The basis for our power is our dependence on God. If we do not remember these fundamentals, it is so easy for us in World Vision to play God in the lives of the poor.What form does 'playing God' take in mission?You have to understand that my assumption is that the poor are poor because someone else is trying to play God in their lives. Human beings were designed to submit their spirit only to the Creator. Any attempt to take the place of the Creator leads to poverty. I talked about this with the community yesterday several times, and you could see heads nodding. Only God can direct how I should live my life, when my child should go to work, what my child should be doing. But others had taken that role of control in the lives of men, women, and children in that community.In the very process of breaking the human tendency to play God, though, I can begin to play God. Because I have similar power. I have the power to approve or not approve development programs; I have the power of connections; I know people in high places. For the agent of transformation to refuse to play God requires great strength of character.So how does one use one's power without playing God?We constantly remind ourselves that our organization is dependent on God. We might have budgets, strategies, professionalism, and sophistication in organizational practices, but those do not explain our effectiveness. Our effectiveness is explained by our dependence on God.I remember talking to one of my colleagues just three weeks ago. An elderly Hindu lady in his community came and handed a small wooden cross to him. She said, "I have figured out that this is the secret of your success." She said she had kept another cross for herself. I thought to myself, Who told her this? She must have observed his life. I was so grateful to God when I heard that.
But was seeing God in their liberation a theological shift for these Hindus?I don't think it's a theological shift for the average Hindu Indian. For Indians, God is more involved in day-to-day life than most Western Christians' theology would allow. The average Hindu need not be introduced to God in that sense. They need to be introduced to the name of that God—Jesus. I've said many times that we do not need to break our heads in India convincing any Indian about the existence of God. The challenge is, "What is the name of this God who is involved with the poor?" That's where Christian distinctiveness—and divisiveness—is felt. Our privilege in World Vision is being able to call attention to the name of God as Jesus through our lives, relationships, and actions, not in a divisive manner, but in a distinctive manner.Is there suspicion that your development work is a subtext for proselytizing?There is suspicion in certain quarters. But we insist that in World Vision India, we do not trade our God for development. We do not trade our God to buy relationships. He is too precious for us to be bargaining with, too precious to be bargained for. He is not for sale.So proselytizing, conversion through coercive means, is a non-issue for us. Not just because we respect the people we serve. That's one part of the story. But also because we value the God we worship.And here's another part -- about access and linkages. One doesn't think about these things, especially not India's privileged, or even middle classes -- we take it for granted. For instance, the fact that I can speak English -- a sign of education, access, power and status -- opens doors automatically. In the stratified and inherently inegalitarian mileu of India, walking into a bank or talking to an official is a hugely intimidating experience for the poor.
You seem to think about poverty less in terms of prosperity and more in terms of access.The word we use is linkages. Poverty is the absence of linkages, the absence of connections with others. So we look for opportunities to link powerless communities with people with good intentions, people with good hearts—government officials, health officials, panchayat presidents, headmasters in schools—who have an influence in the local area and who mean good. We work closely with them.We also work hard on our own linkages. Here in India, there are government officials in very senior positions who are most willing to design programs that serve poor communities—if we can link with them and help them understand the needs and opportunities there.The next part flows from this -- cultivating the powerful (and the wealthy) as partners in development. Most importantly, I find this attitude absolutely admirable -- to constantly beware of playing God.
The truth is that both the powerful and agents of transformation need to transform our understanding of power. It is not enough to simply play the power game better or more humbly. We need to come deeply to believe that our basis of power is not our professionalism or connections or resources. Those are only tools to be used. The basis for our power is our dependence on God. If we do not remember these fundamentals, it is so easy for us in World Vision to play God in the lives of the poor.What form does 'playing God' take in mission?You have to understand that my assumption is that the poor are poor because someone else is trying to play God in their lives. Human beings were designed to submit their spirit only to the Creator. Any attempt to take the place of the Creator leads to poverty. I talked about this with the community yesterday several times, and you could see heads nodding. Only God can direct how I should live my life, when my child should go to work, what my child should be doing. But others had taken that role of control in the lives of men, women, and children in that community.In the very process of breaking the human tendency to play God, though, I can begin to play God. Because I have similar power. I have the power to approve or not approve development programs; I have the power of connections; I know people in high places. For the agent of transformation to refuse to play God requires great strength of character.So how does one use one's power without playing God?We constantly remind ourselves that our organization is dependent on God. We might have budgets, strategies, professionalism, and sophistication in organizational practices, but those do not explain our effectiveness. Our effectiveness is explained by our dependence on God.I remember talking to one of my colleagues just three weeks ago. An elderly Hindu lady in his community came and handed a small wooden cross to him. She said, "I have figured out that this is the secret of your success." She said she had kept another cross for herself. I thought to myself, Who told her this? She must have observed his life. I was so grateful to God when I heard that.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Adapting to Climate Change: Can We Do It Again?
Dangerous climate change will not be prevented by reduced emissions. The damage is already done. For many vulnerable societies, the priority must be adaptation.
About 15 million years ago, dense African forests began drying up to be replaced by open savannah. Tree-dwelling primates eventually descended and found that the new environment suited walking.
Humanity has been adapting more or less successfully to climate changes ever since. After the last ice age ended between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, agriculture and urban settlements developed and humans gradually colonized all but the most hostile environments. But our transformation of the environment is now coming back to haunt us. Man-made climate change is rapidly increasing temperatures and sea levels, altering rainfall patterns, and producing more violent storms.
“People and species have always adapted to changing climates,” say Kit Vaughan, a WWF advisor on climate change adaptation. “What is different is the speed and the scale of the change we are facing.”
The areas most at risk are small islands, dry areas in Africa, large river deltas in Asia, and polar regions. The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) identified 100 countries most vulnerable to climate change. The vast majority are poor countries, many crowded with people living on vulnerable floodplains or drought-prone badlands. Whether an individual, an economy, or a society can deal with the impacts of climate change depends on its adaptive capacity.
“Take Holland, it has a very strong economy, but is very low lying,” says Vaughan. “So it has high risks, but a very high adaptive capacity. They can build dikes and pumps. Bangladesh has an equally high level of risk, but a very small adaptive capacity.”
Adaptive capacity involves a complex combination of knowledge, institutions, technology, and money – ingredients that are scarce in poor countries. The IIED says these countries will need billions of dollars a year to adapt.
Without successful adaptation, however, the World Bank projects, the costs of climate change could be up to 100 billion dollars a year, pushing poor countries further into poverty. And the poorer they become, the less they can adapt. The IIED warns of “chronic famine or forced migration of tens of millions of people,” citing the example of Africa and Asia’s coastal areas and river deltas. (knowledge.allianz.com)
About 15 million years ago, dense African forests began drying up to be replaced by open savannah. Tree-dwelling primates eventually descended and found that the new environment suited walking.
Humanity has been adapting more or less successfully to climate changes ever since. After the last ice age ended between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, agriculture and urban settlements developed and humans gradually colonized all but the most hostile environments. But our transformation of the environment is now coming back to haunt us. Man-made climate change is rapidly increasing temperatures and sea levels, altering rainfall patterns, and producing more violent storms.
“People and species have always adapted to changing climates,” say Kit Vaughan, a WWF advisor on climate change adaptation. “What is different is the speed and the scale of the change we are facing.”
The areas most at risk are small islands, dry areas in Africa, large river deltas in Asia, and polar regions. The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) identified 100 countries most vulnerable to climate change. The vast majority are poor countries, many crowded with people living on vulnerable floodplains or drought-prone badlands. Whether an individual, an economy, or a society can deal with the impacts of climate change depends on its adaptive capacity.
“Take Holland, it has a very strong economy, but is very low lying,” says Vaughan. “So it has high risks, but a very high adaptive capacity. They can build dikes and pumps. Bangladesh has an equally high level of risk, but a very small adaptive capacity.”
Adaptive capacity involves a complex combination of knowledge, institutions, technology, and money – ingredients that are scarce in poor countries. The IIED says these countries will need billions of dollars a year to adapt.
Without successful adaptation, however, the World Bank projects, the costs of climate change could be up to 100 billion dollars a year, pushing poor countries further into poverty. And the poorer they become, the less they can adapt. The IIED warns of “chronic famine or forced migration of tens of millions of people,” citing the example of Africa and Asia’s coastal areas and river deltas. (knowledge.allianz.com)
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