TOKEN AID FOR THAILAND’S FLOOD VICTIMS FROM ADB

TOKEN AID FOR THAILAND’S FLOOD VICTIMS FROM ADB

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Whether this news is gladdening or not, the Asian Development Bank had extended emergency funds worth US $3 million to Thailand to shore up the country’s relief and rehabilitation operations in light of the massive flooding there.

The amount is surely token, as it is worth some couples of toothpick cases for the millions of affected persons. Thailand surely deserves larger relief assistance, most specially from the global corporations that have been operating in the Bangkok region as their central hub in the whole of Asia. The oligarchic companies surely remember Thailand only when their cash registers inflow from their profitable operations, but shirk from the responsibility of helping out during calamities and catastrophies.

Better indeed that the ADB provides some aid for toothpick packs than none at all. Hopefully the same continental bank would allocate billions of dollars for new investments in the country as a way of compensating its toothpick mentality during worst calamities.

[Philippines, 25 December 2011]

Source: http://beta.adb.org/news/adb-gives-emergency-support-thailand-after-worst-floods-over-50-years

ADB Gives Emergency Support to Thailand after Worst Floods in over 50 Years

21 November 2011

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing emergency assistance of $3 million to help Thailand get back on its feet in the wake of the country’s worst flooding in more than half a century.

“The scale and magnitude of the floods are immense and this grant will help Thailand address some of the most immediate, pressing needs,” said Craig Steffensen, ADB’s Country Director in Thailand.

The floods, sparked by heavy rains in August and September, have over 600 people dead and inundated homes, farmland and businesses, including parts of the capital Bangkok and surrounding districts. All affected provinces have been declared disaster areas and the country’s gross domestic product could decline by up to 2% as a result of the devastation.

ADB’s grant will support the provision of food, water, and other essential services to people who have been forced to flee their homes and others affected by the floods. It will be coordinated with assistance being provided by other development partners, including the United Nations, World Bank, European Union, Japan and the United States.

The grant is being provided from ADB’s Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund, which was established in 2009 to provide quick disbursing grants to help countries affected by natural calamities meet their immediate needs. It also helps bridge the gap ahead of longer term post-disaster reconstruction assistance and disaster risk reduction initiatives.

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DISASTER RISK REDUCTION: NEW CLICHÉ?

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION: NEW CLICHÉ?

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Disaster risk reduction is among the latest phraseologies to emerge in relation to climate change and sustainable development. What can the new dictum ‘reduce disaster risk’ offer then in terms of social technologies or ‘best practices’?

I am residing in the Philippines which is accordingly one of the top 5 most hazardous places to live in due to high percentage of eco-hazards. What can ‘disaster risk reduction’ offer beyond mere dictum and policy framework?

Too many clichés are emerging today as terminologies of the current context. They are getting to be more confusing to the common folks, as they redound to what the late CWright Mills claimed as ‘fetishism of the concept’. And, should we add, too many showbiz guys to glamorize the advocacies for the new concepts such as ‘disaster risk reduction’.

Below is a reportage about the International Day for Risk Reduction coming from the UN Habitat.

[Philippines, 26 October 2011]

Source: http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=10497&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

Nairobi, 10 Oct 11

Message by Dr. Joan Clos, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN-HABITAT Executive Director

"The world today is facing ever increasing threats from a wide array of natural hazards which are increasing costs in human lives and loss of public assets. According to UN-HABITAT it is estimated that by 2050 there could be as many as 200 million people displaced by environmental disasters worldwide, many of whom will be forced from their homes by rising sea levels and the increased frequency of flooding and also drought.

Unplanned urbanization exposes more and more people every day to risk from natural hazards. The impacts of climate disruption will be particularly severe in low-elevation coastal zones where many of the world's largest cities are located. And always it is the urban poor, especially slum dwellers, who are most at risk when disaster strikes. We need to stress adequate urban planning to diminish the risk.

The Hyogo Framework for Action provides a strategy for national governments to integrate risk reduction policy into national development planning. United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction's "Making Cities Resilient Campaign" translates this strategy into an approach for implementation in human settlements where the majority of disaster affected populations reside.

UN-HABITAT strongly supports the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary General in advancing the cause of resilient cities through both the campaign, and the Hyogo Framework for Action. Our programming continues to integrate risk reduction in all sustainable urban development initiatives including our post-disaster reconstruction portfolio.

On behalf of my agency, I encourage member states, local governments and civil society to increase their efforts for good urban planning and design to prevent climate disruption and to encourage disaster risk reduction.

"It is time to act before the cost in lives, and public and private capital accelerates. Cities are the greatest achievements of human civilization and it is our responsibility to protect them."

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POPULATION IMPACTS CROPS LARGER THAN CLIMATE CHANGE

POPULATION IMPACTS CROPS LARGER THAN CLIMATE CHANGE

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

I have no fondness for Malthusian bogey perspectives about population outstripping food production. And I do scorn such fear-mongering neo-Malthusians as Paul Erlich’s nauseating ‘population bomb’ thesis.

Albeit, there is indeed validity to the pressure exerted by burgeoning population on limited arable lands. A study done in Africa shows the demographic factor as having greater impact on crops than the much ballyhooed climate change. However, the study didn’t go to the extent of prescribing genocide and population decimation strategies in order to return the food security situation of the past, as such mad prescriptions belong more to the Malthusians and the eco-fascists hiding under the rubric of ‘environmentalists’ or ‘greens’.

Below is a special report on the subject coming from the SciDev.net.

[Philippines,

Source: http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/farming-practices/news/population-has-bigger-effect-than-climate-change-on-crop-yields-study-suggests.html

Population has bigger effect than climate change on crop yields, study suggests

Bernard Appiah

4 October 2011 | EN

Climate change and population hike might mean smaller maize yields in the future

Population pressure will be as significant a factor as climate change in reducing crop yields — and thus increasing food insecurity — in West Africa, according to a modelling study.

The authors inserted different climate change, land use, and demographic change scenarios, into an internationally validated model to estimate maize yields in Benin from 2021–2050.

They found that, as the population increases, farmers frequently cultivate cropland without allowing adequate resting periods for the soil to regain its fertility — thus reducing crop yields.

Overall, they found that various land use scenarios reduced maize yields by up to 24 per cent over the period, whereas climate change scenarios reduced them by up to 18 per cent.

But beyond 2050, "climate change is most likely to be the predominant driver for crop productivity", they concluded.

"Our main assumption [before conducting the study] was that the low-input fallow systems (which allow resting periods for ploughed, but un-seeded land) in Benin and other West African countries would not change in the near future," said Thomas Gaiser, lead author and a researcher at the University of Bonn, Germany.

"If governments in the region introduce policies such as the promotion of the use of mineral fertilisers, then the decrease [in the amount of land left fallow] will not be as serious as that without fertilisers," he added.

Gaiser said farmers should use mineral fertilizers or intercrop with leguminous crops to promote soil fertility and increase yields.

He added that the findings are relevant to many Sub-Saharan African countries relying on leaving land fallow for soil fertility, like Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

"I am not surprised by the findings," said Brian Keating, the director of Sustainable Agriculture Flagship of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), based in Australia. "It is important to look at all the factors that contribute to agricultural productivity output, and not just on climate change."

But Keating told SciDev.Net that many farming systems in West Africa yield only 20–30 per cent of what would be possible if better practices and technologies were adopted.

Temi Ologunorisa, director of the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research at Osun State University, in Nigeria, said African governments should adopt climate change adaptation strategies.

"Agriculture in Africa is about 80 per cent rain-fed, and this must change given the declining amount of rainfall," Ologunorisa said.

The study was published in the August edition of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology.

Link to abstract in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology

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WHAT SAYETH AFRICA REGARDING CLIMATE CHANGE?

WHAT SAYETH AFRICA REGARDING CLIMATE CHANGE?

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Talking about climate change is one thing else, while acting upon climate change challenges and risks is another thing. Which is which for Africa?

Across the Sahara is a tree planting project running by the hundreds of miles. Started couples of years ago yet, the intervention will hopefully begin reforestration and arrest the prolonged desertification of the region. I already extended accolades to this wonderful project sometime back, and I honestly think that this is one intervention that properly addresses climate change challenges and risks.

The question is, where does food security come into the intervention fray? Given the latest famine and hunger outbreak in the Horn, we can practically see symptoms of failures by state and tiller stakeholders to recognize satellite-evidenced drought coming, or even to recognize what experts have been forewarning all along about a huge famine forthcoming. The result of that failure is a famine of gargantuan proportions that affect at least 11 Millions of warm bodies, a calamity that could see hundreds of thousands die of starvation in three (3) months’ time (as of this writing).

Below is an update reportage about the subject, coming from the FAO.

[Philippines, 14 October 2011]

Source: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/89603/icode/

Africa must face climate change head on / Agriculture should be placed front and centre at upcoming meeting of UN Climate Change Convention

14 September 2011, Johannesburg/Rome - FAO and African leaders are working together to move quickly to adopt a "climate-smart" approach to agriculture to fight the impacts of climate change and increasing scarcity of natural resources.

"Africa needs increased productivity in its agriculture and higher incomes in its rural areas, and rural communities and the agro-ecosystems on which they depend have to adapt to climate change and become more resilient to its impacts," Alexander Mueller, FAO's Assistant-Director General for Natural Resources, said in remarks at the conference "Climate Smart Agriculture: Africa - A Call to Action," convened by the Government of South Africa (13-14 September, Johannesburg).

"FAO together with its partners has developed the concept of 'Climate-smart agriculture,' which offers a way to deal with these multiple challenges in a coherent and integrated way", he said.

The approach aims to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and build resilience to environmental pressures, helping farmers adapt to climate change, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This can be achieved through climate-smart practices that increase the organic soil matter and improve water-holding capacity. This also makes yields more resilient and reduces erosion, helping to mitigate climate change.

The way forward

"Climate-smart agriculture includes proven practical techniques and approaches that can help achieve food security, climate change adaptation, and climate change mitigation," Mueller said.

"But more support is needed. We need further piloting and scaling-up of early action programmes, we need to bring together finance and investment opportunities and make them available for developing countries. Agriculture and climate finance need to be addressed together," he added. "Handling one at a time is not going to be enough to meet these multiple challenges," he said.

Agriculture is key, adaptation is essential

Agriculture is the economic foundation of many sub-Saharan countries, employing about 60 percent of the region's workforce and accounting for some 30 percent of gross domestic product.

But climate change may reduce crop yields substantially in sub-Saharan Africa by the 2050s. And some 650 million people in Africa are dependent on rain-fed agriculture in fragile environments that are vulnerable to water scarcity and environmental degradation.

A paper for the Johannesburg event prepared by the South African Agriculture Ministry in collaboration with FAO and the World Bank argues that without measures to adapt food productions to the challenges posed by climate change — and the financing to support those measures — Africa's poverty alleviation and food security goals will not be reached.

Putting agriculture front and centre in climate talks

"The upcoming UNFCCC meeting in Durban, South Africa (28 Nov-9 Dec 2011), offers an opportunity for Africa to shape the global climate change agenda and this conference will help garner attention for the climate-smart agriculture approach," Mueller said.

"It is a signal of utmost importance that Africa has put climate-smart agriculture high on the political agenda by convening this conference," according to Mueller.

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ENERGY REVOLUTION & CLIMATE CHANGE

ENERGY REVOLUTION & CLIMATE CHANGE

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Energy revolution refers to the grand goal of providing energy for all. Among the latest core programs of the United Nations, the Energy for All buzzwords are now making ripples across borders. Hopefully, it will find sufficient support from country stakeholders beyond the glamorous “take off your lights for 1 hour” hype using showbiz celebrities.

Energy for All shouldn’t be scaled up at the expense of ecological balance however. Rather, it should be guided by the emerging framework of clean energy, which then renders the thematic goal as compatible with intervention measures that address climate change.

The position of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization or UNIDO is in synch with such a cognitive frame, and this makes me supportive of the program. Below is the report from the UNIDO about the interface of energy revolution and climate change intervention.

[Philippines, 07 October 2011]

Source: http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=7881&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=937&cHash=bd95ca64c51cb553f64de08489bd59cc

Climate change efforts and an energy revolution should walk hand in hand, says UNIDO Director-General

Friday, 16 September 2011

JOHANNESBURG, 16 September 2011 - The Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Kandeh K. Yumkella, said today that meeting climate change goals requires nothing short of an energy revolution that would provide sustainable energy for all.

Speaking at a meeting of African Energy Ministers in Johannesburg, which is working towards improved integrated energy planning and ensuring the design and development of sound energy projects that can alter Africa's energy pathway, he said: “We cannot solve climate change without an energy revolution - they are interconnected. Although both are often portrayed in terms of challenges, there are also huge opportunities for Africa's economy and its people.”

According to South African Energy Minister Dipuo Peters, only 42 per cent of the continent's population has access to electricity, with the rate for sub-Saharan Africa being as low as 31 per cent - the lowest rate of any region in the world. At a minimum, the Ministers aim to double the existing generating capacity in sub-Saharan Africa in the next 7 or 8 years.

Yumkella also emphasized that Africa will not be able to develop socially or economically without ensuring that all people have access to modern, clean energy services. This requires a clear focus on providing sustainable energy. He urged leaders to focus on practical energy projects, and set clear goals and targets at global climate negotiating forums and beyond.

The two-day conference, which ends today, adopted the Johannesburg Declaration, which includes an initial list of priority energy infrastructure projects.

The Declaration has identified a range of priorities, among them to dramatically expand access to modern, clean, high-quality energy services; develop energy security by scaling-up regional power supply and transmission; reduce climate change vulnerability; prioritizing clean energy; secure financial resources; and build the technology and innovation capacity.

Participants at the event also agreed to support the expansion of generation capacity with emphasis on regional projects; enhance funding for policy and institutional development activities; and cooperate closer on energy planning and international cooperation, as well as on regional trade and energy resource development.

To download the Johannesburg Declaration (PDF), please click here

To read Michael Liebreich's speech, click here

For more information on UNIDO, please contact:

Mikhail Evstafyev
UNIDO Advocacy and Communications Coordinator
Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-5021
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-7329
E-mail

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CLIMATE CHANGE FINANCE GUIDELINES NOW AVAILABLE

CLIMATE CHANGE FINANCE GUIDELINES NOW AVAILABLE

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Climate change is a reality that many peoples across the globe are now well aware of. Even the children in developing countries or DCs have picked up on the discourse concerning climate change and ecological disasters, a discourse that they can hopefully bring home and enable their own families to respond to.

Climate change mitigations require enormous logistics. The research & development phase already demands enormous fiscal and institutional support. On the practice side, the financing of climate change all the more demands gargantuan levels of logistics taken as an aggregation of the efforts of all 200+ countries.

Guides to climate change financing interventions are surely most welcome, such as the latest one reported by the United Nations. The guideline report is hereby posted for your perusal.

[Philippines, 29 September 2011]

Source: http://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2011/09/14/guideclimatechangefinance.html

New guide to help developing countries speed up access to climate finance

14 September 2011

New York —The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today launched a guidebook aimed at helping decision makers in developing countries to better take advantage of the billions pledged to address climate change.

“Blending Climate Finance through National Climate Funds,”is based on UNDP’s experience in setting up, managing and advising 750 funds and providing services for over US$5 billion in contributions pooled from multiple donors.

A step-by-step guide on setting up national climate funds, the publication is a key resource for policymakers, economists, investors and donors involved in national responses to climate change.

“We’re giving governments a recipe on how to access more funding and how to improve management of climate change activities,” said Olav Kjorven, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of Development Policy. “This guidebook can fundamentally change the way governments plan, finance and deliver on their climate policies.”

More than 50 international public funds, 45 carbon markets and more than 6,000 private equity funds provide billions of dollars for national-level climate change actions. Between 2009 and 2010, clean energy sector investments worldwide grew 30 percent to a record US$243 billion.

However, only about one tenth of these investments went outside of countries that are members of the G20 grouping to areas of the world highly vulnerable to shifts in climate patterns, such as the Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States.

Challenges for developing countries seeking to take climate finance actions include collection of funds from hundreds of sources, coordinating activities funded by them and accounting for results.

While a national climate fund with clearly defined objectives, resources, standards, and monitoring and reporting would help meet these challenges, responsibility for climate finance and planning in many developing countries governments is often spread among multiple ministries.

“Through national climate funds, countries can access more financing and accelerate their response to climate change,” said Olav Kjorven. “This can be a major contribution to setting the world on a cleaner, more equitable and sustainable path.”

Examples of successful national climate funds in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Indonesia and other countries are highlighted in the guidebook. The guidebook is part of a series of practical manuals, guidebooks and toolkits intended to support countries to transition toward green, low-emission and climate-resilient development available at www.undp.org/climatestrategies.

Learn more about national climate funds in the guidebook: Blending Climate Finance through National Climate Funds: A Guidebook for the Design and Establishment of National Funds to Achieve Climate Change Priorities

Contact Information

Stanislav Saling
+1 212 906 5296
stanislav.saling@undp.org.

Related Publications

• Blending Climate Finance Through National Climate Funds
• Catalyzing Climate Finance

View all Climate Change Publications

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CLIMATE CHANGE & ENERGY

CLIMATE CHANGE & ENERGY

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

‘Smoke stack’ industries have to a great extent factored into the climate change patterns, with dire consequences of more erratic weather patterns that we experience today. ‘Smoke stack’ industries—those utilizing ‘hot process’ technologies—have for so long employed fossil fuels as energy sources, thus compounding the pollution arising from the manufacturing sector.

The tall order is for manufacturing to eventually shift to ‘cold process’ technologies and the utilization of renewable energy or RE sources. Scale wise, the days of very large-scale, energy-intensive production, e.g. plant churning out over a million tons per annum of steel, should be scaled down to more manageable levels, which hopefully will utilize RE.

A long-term total shift to RE must be envisioned and put into action, with the additional consequence of reversing the climate change patterns of the day. It isn’t too late yet for such a reversal job to undertake, so let’s see what is in store in the UNIDO that resonates with the overall vision.

[Philippines, 14 July 2011]

Source: http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=1001541

Energy and Climate change

Issue

Energy is closely linked with key contemporary global challenges the world faces – social development and poverty alleviation, environmental degradation and climate change and food security – and is therefore a defining issue of our time. Industry needs reliable and affordable energy. At the same time, there has to be an appropriate balance between growing demand for energy and the urgent need to protect environment and climate.

Objective

UNIDO seeks to tackle these challenges. Indeed, climate change and energy policies are inextricably linked – two thirds of our emissions come from the energy we use. Decisions in one field cannot be made without considering the impacts in the other. Thus, UNIDO's Energy Strategy aims at helping developing countries and countries in transition to achieve the following objectives:

• Increase the competitiveness of their industries by reducing industrial energy intensity

• Reduce their impact on climate change by decreasing the carbon emissions of their industries and by promoting renewable energy technologies

• Increase the viability of their enterprises, particularly in rural areas, by augmenting the use of renewable energy sources

Activities

The responsibility of UNIDO is to promote access to energy for productive uses while at the same time supporting patterns of energy use by industry that mitigate climate change and are otherwise environmentally sustainable. More broadly, UNIDO's services can be categorized as follows:

• Renewable and Rural Energy
• Industrial Energy Efficiency and Climate Change
• Energy Policy and Partnership

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CLIMATE CHANGE & ENERGY

CLIMATE CHANGE & ENERGY

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

‘Smoke stack’ industries have to a great extent factored into the climate change patterns, with dire consequences of more erratic weather patterns that we experience today. ‘Smoke stack’ industries—those utilizing ‘hot process’ technologies—have for so long employed fossil fuels as energy sources, thus compounding the pollution arising from the manufacturing sector.

The tall order is for manufacturing to eventually shift to ‘cold process’ technologies and the utilization of renewable energy or RE sources. Scale wise, the days of very large-scale, energy-intensive production, e.g. plant churning out over a million tons per annum of steel, should be scaled down to more manageable levels, which hopefully will utilize RE.

A long-term total shift to RE must be envisioned and put into action, with the additional consequence of reversing the climate change patterns of the day. It isn’t too late yet for such a reversal job to undertake, so let’s see what is in store in the UNIDO that resonates with the overall vision.

[Philippines, 14 July 2011]

Source: http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=1001541

Energy and Climate change

Issue

Energy is closely linked with key contemporary global challenges the world faces – social development and poverty alleviation, environmental degradation and climate change and food security – and is therefore a defining issue of our time. Industry needs reliable and affordable energy. At the same time, there has to be an appropriate balance between growing demand for energy and the urgent need to protect environment and climate.

Objective

UNIDO seeks to tackle these challenges. Indeed, climate change and energy policies are inextricably linked – two thirds of our emissions come from the energy we use. Decisions in one field cannot be made without considering the impacts in the other. Thus, UNIDO's Energy Strategy aims at helping developing countries and countries in transition to achieve the following objectives:

• Increase the competitiveness of their industries by reducing industrial energy intensity

• Reduce their impact on climate change by decreasing the carbon emissions of their industries and by promoting renewable energy technologies

• Increase the viability of their enterprises, particularly in rural areas, by augmenting the use of renewable energy sources

Activities

The responsibility of UNIDO is to promote access to energy for productive uses while at the same time supporting patterns of energy use by industry that mitigate climate change and are otherwise environmentally sustainable. More broadly, UNIDO's services can be categorized as follows:

• Renewable and Rural Energy
• Industrial Energy Efficiency and Climate Change
• Energy Policy and Partnership

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Come Visit E. Argonza’s blogs & website anytime!

Social Blogs:

IKONOKLAST: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com

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HEALTH & CLIMATE CHANGE

HEALTH & CLIMATE CHANGE

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

How does climate change dovetail into health, hygiene, and public policy concerns regarding healthcare?

The impact of climate change is surely very complex a matter, as it involves many intervening factors affecting epidemiology and ailments. Health perspectives must, first of all, be re-tooled to constitute emerging paradigms about the matter.

Below is an update report by the development group eldis.org. Country cases showing climate change impact on health are incorporated.

[Philippines, 08 July 2011]

ELDIS HEALTH REPORTER
5 July 2011
Source: http://www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/health

In this issue:

1. Predicting and mapping malaria under climate change scenarios: the potential redistribution of malaria vectors in Africa
2. A human health perspective on climate change
3. Impacts of climate change on public health in India: future research directions
4. The implications of climate change for health in Africa

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Predicting and mapping malaria under climate change scenarios: the potential redistribution of malaria vectors in Africa

Authors: EZ Tonnang,Henri; YM Kangalawe,Richard; Z Yanda,Pius
Produced by: Malaria Journal, BioMed Central (2010)

This paper, published in the Malaria Journal, posits that malaria is rampant in Africa and causes untold mortality and morbidity. Since vector-borne diseases such as malaria are climate sensitive, the authors argue that this fact raises considerable concern over the implications of climate change on future disease risk, as malaria vectors (Anopheles mosquitoes) may shift from their traditional locations to invade new zones.

Exploiting the sets of information previously generated by entomologists, e.g. on geographical ranges of vectors and malaria distribution, the authors build models that will enable prediction and mapping the potential redistribution of Anopheles mosquitoes in Africa.

Key findings of this study are:

• Shifts in the Anopheles mosquitoes species boundaries southward and eastward of Africa may occur rather than jump into quite different climatic environments.
• In the absence of adequate control, these predictions are crucial in understanding the possible future geographical range of the vectors and the disease, which could facilitate planning for various adaptation options.

The authors conclude that the outputs from this study will be helpful at various levels of decision making, for example, in setting up of an early warning and sustainable strategies for climate change and climate change adaptation for malaria vectors control programmes in Africa.

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=58482

A human health perspective on climate change

Produced by: Environmental Health Perspectives (2010)

This report, published by the the Interagency Working Group on Climate Change and Health, highlights 11 key categories of diseases and other health consequences that are occurring or will occur due to climate change.

The purpose of this paper is to identify research needs for all aspects of the research-to-decision making pathway that will help us understand and mitigate the health effects of climate change, as well as ensure that we choose the healthiest and most efficient approaches to climate change adaptation. This way, the authors provide a starting point for coordination of research to better understand climate’s impact on human health. The authors articulate, in a concrete way, that human beings are vulnerable in many ways to the health effects of climate change. They lay out both what we know and what we need to know about these effects in a way that will allow the health research community to bring its collective knowledge to bear on solving these problems.

The paper highlights the state-of-the-science on the human health consequences of climate change on:

• Asthma, respiratory allergies, and airway diseases.
• Cancer.
• Cardiovascular disease and stroke.
• Foodborne diseases and nutrition.
• Heat-related morbidity and mortality.
• Human developmental effects.
• Mental health and stress- related disorders.
• Neurological diseases and disorders.
• Waterborne diseases.
• Weather-related morbidity and mortality.
• Vectorborne and zoonotic diseases (like malaria, which can be transmitted from animals to humans).

The report also examines a number of cross-cutting issues for research in this area, including susceptible, vulnerable, and displaced populations; public health and health care infrastructure; capacities and skills needed; and communication and education efforts.

The authors conclude that the actions we take today will help to shape our environment in the decades to come. Some degree of climate change is unavoidable, and we must adapt to its associated health effects; however, aggressive mitigation actions can significantly blunt the worst of the expected exposures.

They recommend research to identify who will be most vulnerable, and what efforts will be most beneficial; and to focus on the following areas:

• Integrating climate science with health science.
• Integrating environmental, public health, and marine and wildlife surveillance.
• Applying climate and meteorological observations to real-time public health issues.
• Down-scaling long-term climate models to estimate human exposure risks and burden of disease.

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=58464

Impacts of climate change on public health in India: future research directions

Authors: F. Bush,Kathleen; Luber,George
Produced by: Environmental Health Perspectives (2011)

Building on the information presented at the 2009 Joint Indo–U.S. Workshop on Climate Change and Health in Goa, India, this paper reviews relevant literature and data, to address gaps in knowledge, and identify priorities and strategies for future research in India.

The authors argue that:

• Climate change and associated increases in climate variability willlikely further exacerbate global health disparities. As such, moreresearch is needed, particularly in developing countries, to accuratelypredict the anticipated impacts and inform effective interventions.
• The scope of the problem in India is enormous, based on the potential for climate change and variability to exacerbate endemic malaria, dengue, yellow fever, cholera, and chikungunya, as well as chronic diseases, particularly among the millions of people who already experience poor sanitation, pollution, malnutrition, and a shortage of drinking water.
• In light of this realisation, the authors highlight the importance of improving the surveillance, monitoring, and integration of meteorological, environmental, geospatial, and health data while working in parallel to implement adaptation strategies.

Key conclusions and recommendations:

• It is critical for India to invest in improvements in information infrastructure that are innovative and that promote interdisciplinary collaborations while embarking on adaptation strategies.
• This will require unprecedented levels of collaboration across diverse institutions in India and abroad.
• The ensuing data can be used in research on the likely impacts of climate change on health that reflect India’s diverse climates and populations.
• Finally, the authors recommend the enhancement of local human and technical capacities for risk communication and promoting adaptive behavior.

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=58462

The implications of climate change for health in Africa

Authors: Chimbari,M., J.
Produced by: Arid Lands Information Network (2010)

The interactions between health and climate change are clearly recognised; the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change includes a chapter on health issues in all its publications. But we still need to better understand all the possible impacts of climate change on health.

To date, much of the evidence of the health impacts of climate change has focused on malaria. But the impacts are much wider than this. Climate change projections for Africa indicate that temperatures will increase by 0.2–0.5°C per decade, and many African regions will experience more severe droughts. This will translate to a short growing season for food crops, thus leading to food shortages. These changes may affect human health directly, as the changing weather patterns encourage the production of disease vectors and parasites, such as those causing malaria. Indirect changes will result through impacts on water availability, air quality, food quality and quantity, ecosystems, agriculture and economies – all factors that affect people’s health.

This issue of Joto Afrika features articles from different countries, which highlight ongoing or completed research into climate change and health across Africa. These articles indicate:

• climate change may increase the prevalence of diseases transmitted between humans and animals
• children are most vulnerable to climate change; in times of food shortage, they must be well-fed to avoid malnutrition, as this can make them more vulnerable to other diseases
• communities living in areas prone to flooding are often displaced, forcing them to move to temporary accommodation with basic facilities. This makes them more vulnerable to waterborne diseases
• modelling is an important tool for early warning for climate-induced health disasters
• vulnerable people in communities, for example people living with HIV, can develop successful coping strategies.

Climate change is a significant and emerging threat to public health. There is need for capacity building and implementation of projects to strengthen the health system response to climate change and to ensure that health is appropriately considered in decisions made by other sectors such as energy and transport.

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=57204