Bridging the gap
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Material Information

Title:
Bridging the gap integrating climate change and disaster risk reduction
Creator:
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU) ( summary contributor )
Publisher:
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2008
Language:
English
Physical Description:
Case study

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Climate change ( lcshac )
Risk management ( lcshac )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )
Spatial Coverage:
Asia

Notes

Summary:
This document is a case study prepared by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) highlighting the relationship between disasters and climate change. Focusing on the Asia Pacific region, it looks at the humanitarian aspects of climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR), specifically promoting the ways in which both perspectives can be integrated to create safer communities. Climate change causes increases in the frequency of disasters requiring humanitarian response, even in places previously unaffected by significant weather-related phenomena. Climate information in the form of trends and forecasts, combined with tried and tested DRR measures, can help anticipate disasters before they happen and enable communities to prepare for and cope with them. While there is clearly a strong interrelationship between the principles and objectives of CCA and DRR, these two agendas have separate policy frameworks, and separate mechanisms for funding and implementation at the global, regional, national and local levels. The document highlights and advocates for more efforts like those being implemented in Asia and the Pacific to coordinate CCA and DRR agendas. These integration efforts are grouped into six broad categories: (1) assessing and addressing current and future climate risks at the national level; (2) assessing and addressing current and future climate risks with communities; (3) education and awareness-raising; (4) non-traditional partnerships and networks; (5) advocacy; and (6) integrating climate change into existing training, plans, and strategies. The document suggests that the issue of climate change is best addressed by those with technical knowledge on the subject, and thus the best approach to promoting greater understanding of climate change within the DRR community is to integrate these experts into existing forums on public health and disaster management. Additionally, the document calls for the integration of traditional and community knowledge into decision-making process related to CCA and DRR. Climate change is just one issue facing developing countries amongst various other issues, such as environmental degradation, poverty, rapid population growth, and unregulated urbanization, all which are also likely to aggravate disaster risks. The potential impacts of climate change in this century on these processes will likely be unprecedented in human history and will thus need to be addressed in mult-sectoral, inter-disciplinary, and global ways. ( English )
Subject:
General Risk Management ( English )
Citation/Reference:
(2008). Bridging the gap: integrating climate change and disaster risk reduction. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) IFRC.

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI13042616

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Aggregations:
Disaster Risk Reduction