John R. Labadie. Partners in Emergency Preparedness April 26, 2011

Transcription

1 John R. Labadie Partners in Emergency Preparedness April 26, 2011

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4 Overview The Emergency ege Manager s age Worldview Some definitions Mitigation and Adaptation Where does climate change fit? A seat at the table

5 You and Your Premonition!!

6 Our Current tclimate Problem St Set

7 What Will Climate Change Look klik Like???????

8 The Emergency Manager s Worldview A focus on extreme events Acute vs. chronic hazards (floods vs. droughts) An all hazards approach to preparing for disasters A shorter event horizon (5 years vs years) A shorter planning and operational cycle Mitigation Preparedness Response Recovery Will current plans, actions, mitigation make things better during the next flood (storm, earthquake, hurricane, etc.)? )

9 An Interesting Debate Climate change is a wholly new threat/hazard and thereby requires a unique set of responses. Climate change only makes existing hazards worse (in terms of severity, duration, geographic spread, etc.) and does not require special or novel adaptations. And, by extension When does emergency become business as usual?

10 Some Definitions Mitigation (Emergency Management) activities that reduce or eliminate the probability of a hazard occurrence, or eliminate i or reduce the impact from the hazard if it should occur. (ICDRM/GWU Emergency Management Glossary of Terms)

11 Environmental mitigation steps taken to avoid aoidoror minimize negative e environmental impacts. Mitigation can include: avoiding the impact by not taking a certain action; minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action; rectifying the impact by repairing or restoring the affected environment; reducing the impact by protective steps required with the action; and compensating for the impact by replacing or providing substitute resources. (Biology Online.)

12 Mitigation Climate Change An anthropogenic intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases (IPCC). I. e., actions taken by individuals, d governments, or corporations to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in order to minimize their effects on global climate change.

13 Adaptation Changes in an organism's s physiological structure or function or habits that allow it to survive in new surroundings. (USEPA. Terms of Environment: Glossary, Abbreviations and Acronyms) "adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which h moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities." (IPCC)

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15 Members of the Maldives' Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at Members of the Maldives Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowestlying nation on earth. (2009)

16 Adaptive Capacity...the ability or potential of a system to respond successfully to climate variability and change, and includes adjustments in both behaviour and in resources and technologies. (IPCC) Resilience The ability of a community to remain strong or unharmed, and/or to be able to quickly and effectively recover from a disaster s impact upon its infrastructure, economy, social and natural environment.

17 Elements of Adaptive Capacity Excess capacity Economic surplus Experience w/ natural disasters Strong governmental or social institutions Robust communications Income levels els Good governance and transparency Natural resources Robust infrastructures Social protection & social transfer mechanisms

18 Equity Issues in Climate Change Poverty and Access to Services Governance and Transparency How do decisions get made? Who gets to make those decisions? Ethics what is right? Socio economic Development

19 Dimensions of a decent life Health & Basic Education Income & Material Needs Rights & Empowerment e Social, cultural affiliation & security

20 Poverty and Climate Change A realistic but proactive human development agenda is needed that recognizes that poverty is not just about lack of income; it is about individuals and households being powerless to act and influence their futures. [The Human Dimension of Climate Adaptation: The Importance of Local and Institutional Issues.]

21 The Ethics of Climate Change The IPCC wrote in its 2007 report that determining what constitutes dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system involves value judgments. Science can support informed decisions on this issue. Thus, coping with climate change, both mitigation and adaptation, becomes primarily an ethical issue. [From Closing the Gaps: Disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change in developing countries. Commission on Climate Change and Development. 2009]

22 Some Ethical Issues Is it ethical to tear down a low income housing project in order to build a wetland, if that wetland would help to reduce future flood damages in other parts of the community? Is it ethical to build a dam or an irrigation i system to stabilize water supply, if doing so will disadvantage those who will lose access to important water resources that they use in coping with drought.

23 Equity Issues in Climate Change Poverty oetyand Access to Services Governance and Transparency How do decisions get made? Who gets to make those decisions? Ethics what is right? Socio economic Development Are emergency managers prepared (empowered?) to act/participate in these discussions?

24 Continuum of adaptation activities Source: R. J. T. Klein and Å. Persson, Financing Adaptation to Climate Change: Issues and Priorities Vulnerability focus Impacts focus Addressing the drivers of vulnerability Building response capacity Activities seek to Managing climate risks Activities seek to Confronting climate change Activities seek to reduce poverty and other non climatic stressors that make people p vulnerable build robust systems for problem solving incorporate climate information into decision making Activities seek to address impacts associated exclusively with climate change Primary focus Not so much Emergency Management Perhaps indirectly or case by case

25 Emergency Managers would support... No regrets strategies Mainstreaming Sustainable development Resilience Mitigation These all do (or could) increase a community s ability to recover from, or be less affected by an extreme event. While specific adaptive projects would not be ignored or While specific adaptive projects would not be ignored or rejected by EMs, those that contribute to a greater capacity or resilience would be favored.

26 Emergency Management & Environmental Management Considerable overlap between environmental management and disaster management. The overall objectives of these fields implicitly promote sustainable & resilient communities. Sustainability & resilience should be considered: prospectively (in sustainable development planning and adaptation) retrospectively (in response and recovery).

27 Collaborative Strategies Identifying enhancements to environmental & other assets/resources that support long term recovery and reconstruction (e.g., enhancement of ecosystem elements, habitats); Identifying development options that may serve to mitigate future disaster damage (e.g., creation, enhancement, or preservation of wetlands, mangrove clusters, and coral reefs for flood mitigation);

28 Collaborative Strategies Identifying and reconciling the tradeoffs between adaptation opportunities and disaster resistant construction and development practices (e.g., siting of dikes/levees; identification and preapproval of waste disposal methods/sites); Identifying development techniques and practices that contribute to both environmental quality and long term survivability (siting ii of industrial i sites; stricter environmental management requirements for environmentally risky y facilities)

29 How does it fit together? Environmental Management Resilience Climate Change Adaptation Emergency Management

30 Emergency Managers in their own words I asked emergency managers around the US (public and private sector), What are you as an EM doing about climate change? Hmmm interesting question. I should think about it. I haven t got time I m worried about next flood season. I haven t got the budget (staff, resources, mandate, etc.) to deal with climate change. The Department of is responsible for that.

31 A Seat at the Table Disaster Preparedness is an accepted adaptation strategy (one of many) For emergency managers, mitigation & adaptation are essentially ill the same thing Emergency management should be part of the adaptation ti conversation most effective in the scoping phase Identify synergies no regrets actions multiple Identify synergies, no regrets actions, multiple positive outcomes

32 In Summary Reaction to climate change is largely in the purview of the environmental (& political) community Climate change is not a primary emergency management concern effects, yes; causes, no EMs deal with acute, not chronic, problems EMs generally do not deal directly with underlying problems/issues related to climate change EMs would support climate change adaptations, but would not generally take the lead.

33 Conclusions Funds and resources invested in adaptation to extreme events (floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, heat waves, etc.) will produce more adaptive benefits, more quickly, and for more people than investment in long term adaptation to chronic problems (drought, sea level rise, etc.) Mainstreaming of adaptive strategies into development efforts and pursuing no regrets projects may be the best and most cost effective path to success. Doing so could lead to immediate benefits and could thereby lend credibility to longer term adaptive efforts.

34 Questions?