Developing nations’ relief societies flock to climate preparedness program
Posted on August 7th, 2008By Lauren Morello
Climatewire: Members of the international Red Cross/Red Crescent movement are increasingly incorporating climate change into their relief planning, according to an advisory group.
National aid societies in 35 developing countries have signed onto a climate change preparedness program run by the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre, the Netherlands-based group says in its recently released annual report.
“The message that climate change is a very real threat finally broke through to catch the attention of many people in 2007, including … the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement,” the report’s authors write. The group attributes the change to relief workers’ firsthand experience with “unusual and unexpected weather events.”
The four-step preparedness program asks participants to hold workshops and produce written reports listing their local areas’ vulnerability to climate change, with the ultimate goal of considering climate risks in everyday relief planning.
So far, 23 national societies have completed the first step: holding a workshop for staff. Groups in three regions — the Pacific, East Africa and Central America — have moved to step three, organizing regional workshops on climate risks.
“Many more have signed up to join the program, but due to limited funds the center has had to open a waiting list,” the report notes.
At a United Nations conference last month, the head of the climate center, Madeleen Helmer, said climate change is affecting relief planning at a basic level, extending the recommended timeline for disaster groups’ planning from 5-10 years to as long as 50 years (ClimateWire, July 17).
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the movement’s parent organization, has attributed a significant portion of the 20 percent increase in natural disasters last year to climate change (Greenwire, Dec. 13, 2007).
Click here to view the report.
