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Notes from the Field
The Plea in His Voice - Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change
More Observations from the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Poznan, Poland, from Dec. 1 - 12.
The NGO Practical Action held a side event that focused on the integration of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) into Climate Change adaptation. This means enabling communities to be prepared to face disasters prior to them happening and in a way that loss of lives is minimized and livelihoods are protected. As I watched the brief video that introduced the speakers, it all came together and I could relate the issue to CARE's work in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Tanzania. It all made perfect sense until I heard two gentlemen, one from Honduras and one from Vietnam, make a few simple remarks. "Let me assure you," one said to the audience in a serious tone, "that disasters in my part of the world and in my community are becoming more intense every year. We simply can no longer predict them. Lives are being lost, and frankly no one is there to help us." What struck me was the plea in his voice. Like other participants at this UN Conference, the gentleman from Honduras was expressing his frustration at the slowness of the global response to climate change. He was speaking from first-hand experience, not from future projections or abstract models. These are the voices that CARE wants to highlight at this UN Conference. How are real people being affected by climate changes that have been fueled by the economic growth of Western economies? How can poverty-focused organizations like CARE assist vulnerable people to adapt to such changes? What is the cost of adapting and how much are industrialized countries willing to pay?Adaptation is necessary to address the impacts of global warming already unavoidable due to past emissions of greenhouse gases. What everyone knows here is that even if global emissions were to be halted entirely tomorrow – which is highly unlikely – the climate change consequences will still be with us for a while. So to my friends in Honduras and Vietnam I say, “Please, keep reminding people that climate change is here to stay. Demand a response. Shame the world into action and most importantly know that you are not alone. Agencies like CARE want to support you and that is why we are here in Poznan."
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