Climate change ranks amongst the greatest global problems
of the 21st century. Scientists of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agree that our planet is
warming up at an unprecedented rate, and that this global
warming is largely due to the emission of greenhouse gases
such as carbon dioxide. Although research into the impacts
of climate change is still in its infancy, a number of global
developments are judged to be likely to happen by the scientific
community:
- An increase in extreme
weather events: more droughts,
floods, landslides,
heat waves, and
more intense storms;
- The spreading of insect-borne
diseases such as malaria and dengue to new places where
people are less immune to them;
- A decrease in crop
yields in some areas due to extreme droughts or downpours
and changes in timing and reliability of rainy seasons;
- Global sea level rise
of several cm per decade, which will affect coastal flooding,
water supplies, tourism, fisheries etc. Tens of millions
of people will be forced to move inland.
Although climate change is
a global issue with impacts all over the world, those people
with the least resources have the least capacity to adapt
and therefore are the most vulnerable. Developing countries,
more particularly its poorest inhabitants, do not have the
means to fend off floods and other natural disasters; to make
matters worse, their economies tend to be based on climate/weather-sensitive
sectors such as agriculture and fishery, which makes them
all the more vulnerable.
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A bridge between climate change and disaster risk
reduction
In 2002 the Netherlands
Red Cross together with the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
has established the Red
Cross / Red Crescent Centre on Climate Change and Disaster
Preparedness. In short: the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate
Centre.
The Red Cross Red Crescent
Climate Centre brings together scientific data on climate
change and operational knowledge from the humanitarian field.
Its aim is to improve disaster risk reduction for people living
in disaster-prone areas. The centre hopes that this will lead
to a reduction of the amount of people affected by the impacts
of climate change and extreme weather events.
The Red Cross Red Crescent
Climate Centre is based in the Netherlands but serves the
whole Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, in particular in developing
countries.
The activities of the centre
are based on the ‘triple A’ principle:
- Awareness:
Implementing information and education activities about
climate change and extreme weather events within the Red
Cross/Red Crescent Movement and among the general
public;
- Action:
Supporting the development of concrete climate adaptation
activities, within the existing context of disaster risk
reduction programs;
- Advocacy:
Bringing concerns about the impacts of climate change
on vulnerable people and experience with climate adaptation
and disaster risk reduction programs to the places of
policy development, both within the International Federation,
as in other relevant international forums
In 2006 a ‘fourth
A’ has been introduced:
- Analyses:
Analysing the climate change risk reduction issues at
stake in the context of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
and the first experiences. These analyses should lead
to a stronger vision and positioning of the Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate
Centre on climate change risk reduction approaches.
Find more information about the Red
Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.
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Disaster management
