maurice onyango: climate smart disaster risk management - an approach for climate compatible...
TRANSCRIPT
Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management - an approach for climate compatible development
An overview
Africa Adapt symposium Addis Ababa
Introduction
• This paper explores the synergy between climate change adaptation, disaster risk management and development approaches.
• It recognizes that climate change is affecting the frequency and severity of some natural hazards across East and Horn of Africa, compounding people’s vulnerability and exposure; and is creating greater uncertainty.
• East and Horn of Africa are more attuned to dealing with slow onset disasters such as drought. However, recent examples as flooding in parts of Sudan in July 2010 demonstrated that disaster trends appear to be changing, and with this, recognition that the impacts of climate change on disasters are more varied than was perhaps anticipated.
• A recent study in Kenya estimated that the annual cost of climate change impacts will be in the tune of USD 1 to 3 billion by the year 2030 (Kenya climate change strategy)
• A holistic Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management (CSDRM) approach is needed that tackles changing disaster risks and uncertainties, enhances adaptive capacity and addresses poverty and vulnerability and their structural causes
Twelve components under three pillars
What is Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management (CSDRM)?
CSDRM is:
an integrated social development and disaster risk management approach that aims simultaneously to tackle
changing disaster risks, enhance adaptive capacity, address poverty, exposure, vulnerability and their structural
causes and promote environmentally sustainable development in a changing climate.
The CSDRM approach builds on DRM, climate change adaptation and development concepts and approaches with the purpose of accelerating progress on the HFA and efforts to promotedisaster-resilient communities.
A consultative process….
More than 500 practitioners, policymakers, scientists and
academics from climate change, disasters and development
communities are engaged in CSDRM.
Three Pillars of CSDRM
Pillar I: Tackle Changing Disaster Risk and Uncertainties
1a: Strengthen collaboration and integration between diverse stakeholders working on disasters, climate and development
1b: Periodically assess the effects of climate change on current and future disaster risks and uncertainties
1c: Integrate knowledge of changing risks and uncertainties into planning, policy and programme design to reduce the vulnerability and exposure of people’s lives and livelihoods
1d: Increase access of all stakeholders to information and support services concerning changing disaster risks, uncertainties and broader climate impacts
Pillar II: Enhance Adaptive Capacity Cont
High Levels of Diversity Flexible and Effective Institutions Cross Scalar Perspective Integrating Uncertainty Ensuring Community Involvement Promoting Equity Accepting Non- Equilibrium Promoting Learning Preparedness, Planning &
Readiness Social Values and Structures
2a: Strengthen the ability of people, organisations and networks to experiment and innovate
2b: Promote regular learning and reflection to improve the implementation of policies and practices
2c: Ensure policies and practices to tackle changing disaster risk are flexible, integrated across sectors and scale and have regular feedback loops
2d: Use tools and methods to plan for uncertainty and unexpected events
Pillar III: Address Poverty, Vulnerability and their Structural Causes
3a: Promote more socially just and equitable economic systems
3b: Forge partnerships to ensure the rights and entitlements of people to access basic services, productive assets and common property resources
3c: Empower communities and local authorities to influence the decisions of national governments, NGOs, international and private sector organisations and to promote accountability and transparency
3d: Promote environmentally sensitive and climate smart development
Lessons from in-depth field research
• Case studies in Tanzania using local and scientific knowledge on seasonal climate Forecasting for community adaptation to climate Variability and change in drought-prone villages of Manyoni and Chamwino districts, showed the importance of integration of DRR, CCA and sustainable development.
• This project used integrated scientific and indigenous technology as a key source of information on adaptive capacity.
• Combining knowledge from different sources, analysed and downscaled meteorological information, identified and conducted participatory assessments of local knowledge on climate and weather forecasting, as well as climate risk assessments of the likely impacts of climate change on agriculture.
• Using this information, community-based adaptation strategies were implemented to address and respond to vulnerabilities created by the changing climate. eg training to strengthen the capacity of communities and local institutions to respond to the future disaster scenarios and supporting vulnerable communities to influence and engage in decision-making processes on adaptation strategies
Application of the Approach
• The Approach seeks to guide planning and evaluation of existing DRM policies, projects or programmes, as well as inform advocacy.
• The Approach is not a ‘checklist’ - but offers guidance on how to evaluate current interventions and identify how to change practice and policy for better development outcomes.
• This should be applied in a ‘dynamic and hands-on manner’ to enable local governments and authorities to integrate multiple dimensions / considerations (pillars) to make their initiatives adaptive to the changing climate.
Useful resources – the SCR Discussion Papers• The Resilience Renaissance? Unpacking Of Resilience for Tackling Climate Change
and Disasters. Bahadur, A.; Ibrahim, M. and Tanner, T. • Assessing Progress on the Convergence of Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate
Change Adaptation. Mitchell, T., Van Aalst, M. and Villanueva, P. • Greening Disaster Risk Management: Issues at the Interface of Disaster Risk
Management and Low Carbon Development. Urban, F. , Mitchell, T. And Villanueva, P.• Integrating Climate Change into Regional Disaster Risk Management at the Mekong
River Commission. Polack, E.• Building Climate Resilience at State Level: DRM and Rural Livelihoods in Orissa.
Hedger, M., Singha, A. and Reddy, M. • Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction in a Conflict-affected District, Batticaloa, Sri
Lanka: Reflecting on the Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management Approach. Ibrahim, M.
To contact us email - [email protected]
For more information and free downloadable versions of the Approach
see the Strengthening Climate Resilience website - www.csdrm.org
Thanks from the SCR consortium!