Climate Change: Can the Climate Panel have Climate Impact?

In a NYTimes article, Andrew C. Revkin problematises the role of scientists in the fight against climate change. Should scientists speak out and provide policy makers with clear guidelines, or should they limit themselves to merely presenting their models, forecasts and findings in a scientific (i.e. objective and neutral) way?

Leaders from the most visible and known group of scientists working on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), including its president Rajendra K. Pachauri, have decided to speak out - albeit in a personal capacity. Their motivation is the big gap between the policy neutral reports of the IPCC (although others contest this neutrality) and the lack of action by the policy makers and world leaders that so support these reports.

In helping to make up your minds on climate change and its humanitarian impact, the Humanitarian Relief blog has compiled a list of resources, including campaigns, news reports, maps and other blogs.
See also the OCHA website on the humanitarian impact of climate change, with some general information and videos.

OCHA's humanitarian Dashboard

Thanks to iRevolution for this:

The goal of the Dashboard is to ensure evidence-based humanitarian decision making for more needs-based, effective, and timely action. The business world is well-accustomed to dashboards for senior executives in order to provide them with a real-time overview of core business data, alert them of potential problems, and keep operations on-track for desired results.

Stephen Few, a leader in dashboard design defines a dashboard as “a single-screen display of the most important information people need to do a job, presented in a way that allows them to monitor what’s going on in an instant.” Such a single-screen or single-page overview, updated in real time, does not currently exist in the humanitarian world.”

Read more at iRevolution.

UN-OCHA: Humanitarian Coordinators Pool Mapping Exercise Report

This report outlines the evolution of United Nations humanitarian leadership; reports key outcomes against the plan; reviews current leadership development across the humanitarian system (UN, NGOs, IOM, and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement); and highlights issues of concern and ways forward for consideration of the IASC HC Issues Group and the IASC. It goes on to outline recommendations regarding the continuation of the HC Pool and the creation of an IASC Humanitarian Coordinators Assessment Panel.

More than 200 stakeholders were contacted, from operational humanitarian United Nations agencies on the IASC, International Organizations (ICRC, IFRC, IOM), NGO Consortia, key NGO humanitarian agencies and large Red Cross National Societies, key donors on UNOCHA support network, and humanitarian standard and quality projects dealing with personnel.

Read more on Reliefweb.

OCHA: Central Emergency Response Fund Two Year Evaluation

In its resolution 60/124 of December 2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations transformed the Central Emergency Revolving Fund, created in 1991, into the Central Emergency Response Fund, two-thirds of which would be for rapid response and one-third for underfunded emergencies.

A report on its operation after two years is now available for download from the OCHA website.

OCHA: Humanitarian Implications of Climate Change: Mapping Emerging Trends and Risk Hotspots for Humanitarian Actors

Human-induced climate change is already modifying patterns of extreme weather such as flooding, cyclones and drought. In many cases, it is making these hazards more intense, more frequent, less predictable and/or longer lasting. This magnifies the risk of disasters everywhere, but especially in those parts of the world where there are already high levels of human vulnerability.

As a result, OCHA's Policy Development and Studies Branch and CARE's Poverty, Environment and Climate Change Centre commissioned a research project to compare how current high-risk areas for humanitarian disasters might be affected by climate change over the next 20-30 years.

Using a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) mapping approach, the team looked at specific hazards associated with climate change – specifically: floods, cyclones and droughts – and placed them in relation to factors influencing human vulnerability. The results identify hotspots of high humanitarian risk under changing climatic conditions.

The complexity of climate change science and measurements of human vulnerability means the results should be interpreted as indicative only. Further research and refinement is necessary, particularly at the regional and local levels.

Download the full report from Reliefweb.

OCHA: Global Symposium +5 on Information for Humanitarian Action - Final Report

With the ever-changing humanitarian landscape, challenges and opportunities continue to characterize the humanitarian community’s ability to share, manage and exchange information. While timely, relevant and reliable information remains central to effective humanitarian coordination and response, users increasingly expect information to support evidencebased advocacy, decision-making and resource allocation. Given these expectations, information professionals recognize they must work together to produce information tailored to serve a range of different needs in affected countries based on common standards and sound analytical methods. Today’s technology offers many solutions but real progress is still only possible through the willingness of people and their organizations to collaborate in sharing, managing and communicating information as a community.

It was in this context that the 2007 Global Symposium +5 on Information for Humanitarian Action was held in Geneva at the Palais des Nations on 22-26 October. The Symposium brought together more than 300 humanitarian professionals to build upon a community of practice on humanitarian information and knowledge to strengthen humanitarian response through timely and reliable information. Participation represented the broad spectrum of humanitarian actors globally. This report reflects the collective wisdom and learning of this wide base of humanitarian information professionals representing more than 100 organizations. The report outlines emerging themes, recognizes lessons and good practice, and reaffirms the agreed principles supporting quality standards. Most importantly, it provides recommendations that will guide the humanitarian community forward.

Download the report from Reliefweb.

UN-OCHA: Climate Change heating up conflict

BALI, 10 December 2007 (IRIN) - Increasing pressure caused by climate change on essential resources like water could not only trigger domestic conflicts but also have a destabilising effect globally, warn UN officials.

"It is not far-fetched to begin to see growing tensions; not far fetched to think climate change will globally have a destabilising effect," said Achim Steiner, Executive Secretary of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), who drew a scenario in which countries heavily affected by climate change would blame those not seen as doing enough to cut emissions.

Steiner's comments followed the release of a report, Climate Change as a Security Risk, by the German government's scientific advisory body on 10 December at the UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia: it warned that environmental shocks could outpace the adaptive capacities of some societies in the coming decades.

...

Research in recent decades has shown that land degradation, water shortages and resource competition, when combined with other conflict-amplifying factors, have caused violence and conflict in the past, said the German study. Earlier this year, UNEP cited the war in Darfur as an example of the impact of climate change on stability.

"We are not trying to depoliticise the conflict," said Steiner, "[but] we need to learn, to understand, that if we had taken into account some of the factors [related to climate change], we could have avoided some of the conflicts that have exploded."

Regional hotspots highlighted by the report are in the longer post - click on the link below.

Regional hotspots

The German government's report draws scenarios of the social impact of climate change in regional hotspots. Some of them are:

North Africa: The populous Nile Delta will be at risk from sea-level rise and salinisation in agricultural areas. A drop in food production, water scarcity, high population growth and poor political problem-solving capacity could intensify political crisis and migratory pressure.

Sahel zone: Drought, water scarcity and food insecurity in a region already characterised by weak states and instability could aggravate social crises.

Southern Africa: Droughts and water scarcity could overstretch capacities in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Central Asia: Above-average warming and glacial retreat could exacerbate problems in the region, characterised by political and social tensions.

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: Glacial retreat in the Himalayas would jeopardise water supply to millions of people, with sea-level rise and cyclones aggravating crises characterised by cross-border conflicts (India and Pakistan) and unstable governments.

"If we look at South Asia alone, the melting [glaciers would mean] tens of millions of people will have to leave their livelihoods. Where will they go? How will they impact on the host communities that receive them?" said Steiner. "We must look at the potential security threat posed by these changes - we cannot bury our heads in the sand."

UN-OCHA article - The humanitarian impact of climate change

By Margareta Wahlström

The greatest risk we face is doing nothing. It is time to roll up our sleeves and get to work in building more disaster-resilient communities. ... Many of the most effective tools at our disposal to save lives are based on mobilizing people, not on expensive technology. Community-based early warning systems, local disaster education and evacuation plans, better crop and land management techniques are all being completed with great success by nations across the resource spectrum.

Read the rest of the article on Reliefweb.