Wednesday 27 July 2011

NEW EXECUTIVE SUMMARY for the Climate Vulnerability Monitor 2010

  • Why climate change is responsible for claiming over 300,000 lives each year
  • Why virtually every country is vulnerable to climate change, with over 50 countries acutely at risk
  • Cost-effective measures exist for dealing with every major climate stress


  • EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

          The Executive Summary highlights salient information from the Climate Vulnerability Monitor in a comprehensive and accessible form. It lays bare the sheer scale and breadth of the climate change related impacts we face today. 
          Climate Vulnerability
            Climate suffering is global and unless measures are taken, the next 20 years will see explosive growth in every climate impact. But we are not powerless. While almost every country has high vulnerability in one major climate impact area, much damage caused by climate change is still readily preventable by a wide range of adaptation techniques. 
            Climate Impact
                 “This report provides a basis for discussion and debate on key vulnerabilities resulting from climate change, thereby enabling policy makers and the public to bring the issues of impacts and vulnerabilities into the mainstream of policymaking. Against that objective this report makes a major contribution.” - Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC, Director General of TERI
                  Climate Impact
                Download Poster and compare climate impacts across the world for every country, 2010 and 2030 
                For more information, check out our Website
                  Climate Impact

              Thursday 21 July 2011

              Climate Change: A Threat to International Peace and Security

              Yesterday, July 20th, the UN Security Council Debate resulted in the issue of a Presidential Statement that climate change is a real threat to international peace and security. 

              A displaced Somali girl carries water at the Halabokhad IDP settlement in Galkayo, northwest of Somalia"s capital Mogadishu, 20 July 2011Some excerpts from Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moonent's speech:
              "Climate change is a real threat to international peace and security."

              "Extreme weather events continue to grow more frequent and intense in rich and poor countries alike, no only devastating lives, but also infrastructure, institutions and budgets - an unholy brew which can create dangerous security vacuums."

              "Now we need accelerated operationalization of all the agreements made at CancĂșn, including on protecting forests, adaptation and technology."

              "We cannot ignore history. But we must clearly recognise that there can be no spectators when it comes to securing the future of our planet."

              "There can be little doubt today that climate change has potentially far-reaching implications for global stability and security in economic, social and environmental terms which will increasingly transcend the capacity of individual nation States to manage,."

              Read press from the UN News Centre, and articles from the BBC and tcktcktck.

              Wednesday 20 July 2011

              Climate Threat to Nauru and Other Island Nations

              Copyright 2011 The New York times Company, Wesdley Bedrosian

              DARA International teamed up with the Climate Vulnerable Forum to produce its Climate Vulnerability Monitor of 2010.  The Climate Vulnerable Forum is made up of governments from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific, representing some of the ocuntries most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.  This global partnership of leaders actively seeks a firm and urgent resolution to the growing climate crisis.  The Climate Vulnerable Forum was founded by President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives and first convened in November 2009.  The Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum adopted then expressed alarm at the rate of changes and danger witnessed around the planet due to the effects of human-induced global warming and called for urgent most international cooperation to tackle the challenge.  Listen to President Nasheed talk about the Climate Vulnerability Monitor.

              From the President of Nauru, a country in the southern Pacific Ocean, comes a new article about the threat of climate change to island nations.  Nauru states, "We are not asking for blue helmets to intervene; we are simply asking the international community to plan for the biggest environmental and humanitarian challenge of our time."  Read the article in full, here.  

              Tuesday 19 July 2011

              UNICEF video: climate change in Kenya and Ethiopia

              Check out this video from UNICEF on climate change and its human impact in Kenya and Ethiopia.

              Monday 18 July 2011

              NASA's Video on Agriculture and Climate Change

              Check out NASA's video "Science for a Hungry World: Agriculture and Climate Change"
              And if you haven't already, listen to our podcast on Climate Change and Agriculture, or take a look at our page on the topic.



              Tuesday 12 July 2011

              From the Australian Youth Climate Coalition: "Our Vision"


              Watch how "The Australian Youth Climate Coalition is building a generation-wide movement to solve the climate crisis before it's too late."


              To learn more about the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, visit aycc.org.au or facebook.com/aycc.org.au



              The Human Impact of Shifting Sands in Madagascar

              "The Gathering Storm: Shifting Sands" 


              The IRIN presents an exposĂ© on the effects of climate change in Madagascar, where drought, sands and floods have put a strain on agriculture and the availability of water resources.   

              Excerpts from their interviews:

              "We used to get our water from a well but the well became full of sand.  So now we have to dig holes in the sand to get our water.  In our ancestors' time there was plenty of rain, but now things have changed and it hardly ever rains."

              "Before the soil used to be hard but the wind came and covered it with sand.  Now it is very sandy and very hard to grow anything.  Just sweet potatoes or a little maize if it rains."

              "This place has been destroyed by the sand.  And in 5 to 7 years time we will have to move again and we don't know where we will go.  To keep on moving is a big problem.  We are not secure.  If the sand keeps coming we will have to keep moving."

              Copyright © IRIN 2011, IRINNews.org



              Monday 11 July 2011

              Kumi Naidoo and Greenpeace Africa

              Check out this Video Message from Kumi Naidoo and Greenpeace Africa






              Friday 8 July 2011

              Climate Change in the Caribbean - Economic Recession


              "Kenrick Leslie, executive director of the Belize-based Caricorn Climate Change Centre, talks on the challenges of climate change in the Caribbean"

              Credit: Alertnet/Laure Goering
              Published Date: 07/01/2011

              (Find the original link here)


              Oxfam Report: "Preparing for the Impact of a Changing Climate on US Humanitarian and Disaster Response"





               
               Even developed countries are exposed to the devastating impact of climate change: End of June 2011, Oxfam released a new report that analyses the effects of climate change on US humanitarian responses.  It provides a model for developing adaptation procedures around the world to our changing climate.


              "This report examines the likely impacts of a changing climate on the US government’s civilian and military humanitarian response systems. We analyze both humanitarian and security implications of climate change as well as how the US government responds to overseas climate-related emergencies. We want to understand the changes that can be made now to better prepare these systems for the long-term effects of climate change."



              An Ounce of Prevention-screen.pdf 

              Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence


              Take a look at this video on Christian Parenti speaking about his new book, Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence.  This book highlights climate vulnerability in developing cultures with a particular focus on social stability.



              Wednesday 6 July 2011

              Women and Water Security


              In the drought-ravaged Gedo region of Somalia, obtaining water can involve treks of 20km or more. ©Mohamed Gaarane/IRIN, IRINNews.org

              Programmes from the Monitor’s Adaptation Performance Review address the effects of climate change on water safety in order to reduce the incidence of water-bourne diseases and diseases from unwashed food products. Implementing accessible water supply systems also reduces the work involved in obtaining safe water, a task often delegated to women. In India, for example, searching for water occupies an average of 2 hours per day. The Monitor’s suggestions for water programmes include canal lining, water desalination procedures, and the installation of hand water pumps, standposts and house connections. All of these programmes enhance availability, access and efficiency of water use in the face of harsh climate conditions.


               Fresh water being poured into a jerrycan.  Harshin district, in the eastern Somali region of Ethiopia.  © Siegfried Modola/IRIN, IRINNews.org

              A woman fetches water in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 2007. Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries, its people crammed into a delta of rivers that flows into the Bay of Bengal© Manoocher Deghat/IRIN, IRINNews.org


              A woman harvests rain water from a dry river bed in Makueni, Kenya. © Manoocher Deghati/IRIN, IRINNews.org

              Mary Muntari collects water from a stream in Kachia, in Kaduna State Nigeria.  September 2009. © Kate Holt/IRIN, IRINNews.org






               For more information, listen to our podcast or visit the CVM's full page on Climate Change and Gender



              Tuesday 5 July 2011

              Breast-feeding promotion

              Breastfeeding promotion, among the least costly actions available to the health community today, involves encouraging new mothers to breastfeed their infants for the first six months of life. Technical specifications and guidelines for implementing this programme already exist, and global training programmes are well developed and accessible. Exclusive breastfeeding, improves child nutrition, eliminates the intake of potentially contaminated food and water and significantly lowers the risk of transmitting infections to children. Studies have shown that in developing countries, breastfed children under six months of age are 6.1 times less likely to die of diarrhea than infants who are not breastfed.


               


              For more information, listen to our podcast or visit the CVM's full page on Climate Change and Gender
              Photobucket