Study Session 12 Resilience and Coping Strategies

Transcription

1 Study Session 12 Resiience and Coping Strategies Copyright 2016 The Open University

2 Contents Introduction 3 Learning Outcomes for Study Session What is resiience? Resiience in the water sector Adaptation measures Water conservation Recycing water Catchment management Response to cimate change in Ethiopia Ethiopia s Cimate Resiient Green Economy Resiience in urban areas Eary warning systems 12 Summary of Study Session Sef-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

3 Introduction Introduction Peope, communities and society are vunerabe to harm arising from a range of sources. Extreme weather events and cimate change add to the chaenges of rapid urbanisation, popuation growth and environmenta degradation. In order to cope with these probems, peope, communities and society need to be resiient; that is, to be abe to recover from such shocks and stresses, and have coping strategies to dea with them. In this study session, you wi be ooking at Ethiopia s approaches to cimate change resiience. You wi earn about some particuar features of resiience in the water sector, as we as Ethiopia s strategic response to cimate change. You wi aso find out about resiience in urban areas and eary warning systems that provide information to hep us respond to hazards. Learning Outcomes for Study Session 12 When you have studied this session, you shoud be abe to: 12.1 Define and use correcty a of the key words printed in bod. (SAQs 12.1, 12.3 and 12.5) 12.2 Describe how resiience in the water sector can be improved. (SAQ 12.2) 12.3 Expain how Ethiopia s Cimate Resiient Green Economy can contribute to the adaption to and mitigation of cimate change. (SAQ 12.3) 12.4 Describe the key principes for urban resiience to cimate change (SAQ 12.4) 12.5 Expain the importance of preparedness and eary warning systems. (SAQ 12.5) 12.1 What is resiience? Resiience is the abiity of an individua, househod, community, society or system to withstand, cope with and quicky recover from shocks and stresses. Shocks and stresses might incude drought, foods and other natura hazards, as we as ong-term changes in the cimate and environmenta degradation. They can resut in shortage of resources and faied infrastructure and other situations that have the capacity to cause harm. Understanding the concept of resiience is usefu in addressing cimate risk and unexpected events. Responses to cimate change argey fa into two categories: mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation invoves trying to reduce the causes of cimate change, such as reducing carbon emissions and protecting forests and wetands which act as carbon sinks. Thus, mitigation strategies aim to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases (IPCC, 2001). In contrast, cimate change adaptation invoves addressing the effects of cimate change by making communities more resiient. It invoves adjustments in natura or human systems in response to actua or expected cimatic effects in order to moderate the harm they may cause (IPCC, 2007b). Pans for improving cimate change resiience shoud incude adaptation measures, mitigation actions and disaster risk reduction. 3 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

4 12.2 Resiience in the water sector Choose a pace you know or have read about that is threatened by cimate change. This coud be a sma viage, a town or a particuar region of Ethiopia. What is the name of your pace and where is it ocated? In what ways is it threatened? In what ways can it be made resiient? You wi have your own answer to these questions but in answering them you need to identify the threats to your pace, and then consider what can be done to protect it. You might consider what oca peope coud do, as we as what the government or others coud do. Possibiities may have been extreme, ike reocating peope to safer areas; or more manageabe such as improving peope s education about the risk and improving preparation for emergencies. Individuas and communities with ow resiience are vunerabe to shocks and stresses and have itte abiity to recover. Vunerabiity means the degree to which individuas, communities or systems are susceptibe and ess abe to cope with harm (IPCC, 2007b). On a wider eve, you coud think of resiience as the capabiity of the system or country to manage risks and reduce the occurrence of hazards and to adapt to change over the ong term. The abiity of a system to adapt to cimate change and cope with its consequences is caed the adaptive capacity of the system Resiience in the water sector In Study Sessions 1 and 4 you read about the imited avaiabiity of water in terms of both quantity and quaity. By 2025, haf of the word s popuation wi ive in water-stressed river basins (Word Widife Fund, 2015). You have aso read about popuation growth, urbanisation, changing and use and the increasing demand for water for domestic, industria and agricutura purposes. Cimate change wi aggravate these growing human pressures on water systems Adaptation measures Improving resiience in the water sector means deveoping the adaptive capacity of the system. Countries need to adopt appropriate adaptation measures in their water suppy sector that wi reduce wastage, promote wise use of fresh water and improve water management practices. These adaptation measures incude: Efficient use of water resources: ensure effective use and fair sharing of existing resources; deveop new water sources and reservoirs; promote efficient use of water by consumers through education and tariff structures; deveop water reuse and recycing; deveop rainwater harvesting schemes. Leakage reduction: ensure that equipment and fittings of the water suppy system are propery maintained to reduce the frequency of eakage, and that they are repaired prompty. Testing existing technoogies for resiience: water and sanitation services shoud be robust enough to ensure that water quaity, water quantity and sanitation systems can be maintained. 4 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

5 12.2 Resiience in the water sector Protecting ecosystem resiience: the impacts of natura disasters and cimate change shoud be monitored to maintain the resiience of water and wetand ecosystems. Ecosystem resiience means that the effects of events ike fires or drought do not make fundamenta ong-asting changes to biodiversity within the ecosystem. Fexibe management approaches: decision makers need to be abe to adapt to the fu range of cimate scenarios and the demands they generate. Foowing these principes for adaptation wi hep to ensure that increasing probems of water stress can be managed appropriatey and that the water sector improves its resiience to future change. Many of these measures are about the sustainabe use of water and require changes to the way water resources are managed. We wi now ook at three exampes of water management practices that wi hep improve resiience: water conservation, water reuse and catchment management Water conservation Water conservation covers a broad range of activities from using ess water at home to nationa poicies to protect freshwater ecosystems. Its purpose is to manage water sustainaby by using ess or using it more efficienty so that present and future needs of peope and the environment can be met. Freshwater conservation efforts are designed to protect and restore biodiversity in water and wetand ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. Ecosystem services are the benefits that peope obtain from these systems, such as the provision of drinking water and food. Freshwater ecosystems support 12% of known species, whie they account for ony 1% of the Earth s surface (Geick, 2012). They incude rivers, ponds, akes, marshes, bogs and swamps, but they are becoming increasingy rare. Wetands are aso important carbon sinks but they are often drained to support agricuture or for human settement. An exampe of water conservation in agricuture is the use of drip-feed irrigation, which provides water directy to the soi near the roots of the growing crops (Figure 12.1). It requires a great dea ess water than conventiona methods of food or spray irrigation in which much of the water is ost by evaporation. By using ess water, the voume taken from rivers is reduced which heps to maintain the river ecosystem. 5 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

6 12.2 Resiience in the water sector Figure 12.1 Drip-feed irrigation system reduces water oss by evaporation. Other exampes of water conservation from agricuture incude changing the variety of crop that is grown to those that require ess water and are more drought-resistant. Changing techniques for panting can aso reduce water use, for exampe, creating a sma hoow around the stem of a pant can ensure that water seeps into the ground cose to the roots rather than running off over the surface Recycing water Wastewater recycing wi become an increasingy important source of new water resources. It means finding ways to use water more than once. Recyced water can be used to recharge groundwater aquifers, suppy industria processes, irrigate certain crops and suppement domestic suppies. Recycing heps provide usabe water and reduces poution of existing suppies. Many industria and domestic processes do not require water of drinking standard. For exampe, water for fushing toiets does not need to be of the same quaity as drinking water. There has been a significant increase in the avaiabiity and use of treated wastewater for a wide range of appications in different parts of the word and this is an area that is ikey to grow. 6 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

7 12.3 Response to cimate change in Ethiopia Catchment management In the past, responsibiity for management of water resources has often been divided among severa different agencies or administrative departments. For exampe, responsibiity for providing water suppy for domestic users woud be entirey separate from water for irrigation, even though they woud both be using the same resource. This ack of coordination creates probems because it does not recognise the processes and connections of the water cyce or the inks between the various parts of the water resource system. To overcome this probem, the natura boundaries of the water catchment shoud be recognised. The catchment area, aso known as the watershed, of a river is the tota area of surrounding and that sopes towards the river. Rainwater that fas in a catchment fows into the river and is therefore affected by the type of and over which it fows. Water can be contaminated by poution sources in the catchment even though they may be some distance away. Adopting an integrated catchment management approachmeans that these connections are take into account. Integrated catchment management invoves both water use and and use within the catchment area. It recognises the connections between water quaity and water quantity and those between surface water and groundwater. Importanty, the needs of the environment are aso taken into account. This integrated approach can improve resiience because understanding the connections within a system heps managers to predict impacts and identify strategies for coping with change Response to cimate change in Ethiopia Have you experienced periods of drought or cuts in water suppy? How did you cope? Most of us in Ethiopia have experienced drought and cuts to suppy. Whie access to drinking water is the main concern, we quicky reaise how dependent we are on water for many other things that make ife comfortabe. Botted water and tankers that transport water shoud ensure we have water to drink, but we quicky adjust to washing ess frequenty, cooking ess and eating more raw food. In other words, we adapt and cope. For reasons you have read about in previous study sessions, cimate change is a growing concern for the Ethiopian government. At the heart of Ethiopia s cimate change initiatives is the Cimate Resiient Green Economy strategy Ethiopia s Cimate Resiient Green Economy Awareness of cimate change impacts has intensified in recent years. The Ethiopian government has decided to respond in a way that not ony seeks to mitigate and adapt to cimate change, but aso to use this as an opportunity to switch to a new deveopment mode that wi be sustainabe. To this end, the government has initiated the Cimate 7 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

8 12.3 Response to cimate change in Ethiopia Resiient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy (FDRE, 2011). This aims to protect the country from the adverse effects of cimate change and to buid a green economy that wi hep reaise Ethiopia s ambition to reach midde-income status before The term green economy is defined as a sustainabe economy and society with zero carbon emissions where a energy is derived from renewabe resources which are naturay repenished. In contrast, a back energy economy is based on carbon-intensive fossi fues such as coa and oi. Ethiopia s CRGE strategy identifies more than 60 initiatives to imit greenhouse gas emissions whie sti bringing economic deveopment. The aim is for emissions in the year 2030 to be roughy the same as they were in 2011 when the strategy was pubished. This is ess than haf the eve estimated under a conventiona deveopment path. The CRGE pan is based on four piars (FDRE, 2011): 1 Agricuture: improving crop and ivestock production practices for higher food security and farmer income whie reducing emissions. 2 Forestry: protecting and re-estabishing forests for their economic and ecosystem services, incuding as carbon stocks. 3 Power: expanding eectricity generation from renewabe sources of energy for domestic and regiona markets. 4 Transport, industria sector and buidings: eapfrogging to modern and energyefficient technoogies in transport, industria sectors and buidings. (Leapfrogging means jumping ahead without going through a sow deveopment process.) The required budget for the CRGE is US$150 biion for 20 years, most of which is expected to come from externa sources (Gebremedhin and Mengistu, 2014). Four key initiatives have been identified for fast-track impementation: 1 Expoiting Ethiopia s vast hydropower potentia. 2 Large-scae promotion of advanced rura cooking stoves. 3 Efficiency improvements in ivestock rearing. 4 Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Taking each of these in turn, the country s vast hydroeectric power potentia through its 12 river basins is being expoited by buiding arge dams such as the three Gige Gibe dams and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Figure 12.2), which is expected to be Africa s argest dam. These provide renewabe energy but, internationay, these projects are contested because of the potentia impact they coud have downstream in terms of reducing suppy, particuary in Egypt (BBC, 2014). 8 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

9 12.3 Response to cimate change in Ethiopia Figure 12.2 The construction site for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in northern Ethiopia. When competed, the reservoir wi cover an area of 1800 km 2. Secondy, the government favours the arge-scae promotion of advanced rura cooking stoves because they are fue efficient (Figure 12.3). Traditionay, most rura househods burn wood and charcoa on open fires to cook, causing indoor and outdoor air poution. The new stoves use ess fue, are safer and produce ess smoke which brings heath benefits. 9 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

10 12.3 Response to cimate change in Ethiopia Figure 12.3 An Ethiopian famiy enjoys a mea cooked on an advanced cooking stove. Thirdy, efficiency improvements in the rearing of ivestock can bring economic benefits. Ethiopia has more catte than any other African country and is the eighth-argest producer of ivestock in the word (CNFA, 2015). Yet in 2011 Ethiopia accounted for ess than 1% of tota goba meat exports, so this is ceary an area of potentia growth. Fourthy, the government is prioritising the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. This initiative aims to ower the emission of greenhouse gases as a resut of changing and use. The country s diverse andscapes provide food, water, firewood, construction materias and medicines, and if we managed can hep reduce the risk of fooding, drought and famine. Whie cimate change has increased the frequency of these risks, effective and use management can contribute to resiience against such risks, as we as improve biodiversity and carbon stocks in the soi and vegetation (Word Bank, 2014). The pressures on and use are due to the expansion of subsistence agricuture and ivestock grazing in fragie areas, eading to and and water degradation. But this is now changing, with arge-scae andscape restoration underway in Tigray, for exampe (Word Bank, 2014). The CRGE strategy demonstrates Ethiopia s commitment to responding to cimate change. The government is deveoping nationa frameworks for adaptation and estabishing the institutiona structures to manage cimate change such as the country s Environmenta Protection Authority (EPA) which coordinates and makes cimate change poicy an integra part of deveopment initiatives. 10 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

11 12.4 Resiience in urban areas 12.4 Resiience in urban areas Athough Ethiopia is currenty one of the east urbanised countries in the word, this is ikey to change over the next coupe of decades. Do you reca, from Study Session 5, what the percentage urban growth rate is in Ethiopia? How does this compare with other countries in Africa? Ethiopia s urban growth rate is more than 4% per year, which is one of the highest in Africa. The increasing urban popuation puts added pressure on housing, transport, water suppy and other systems and services. Urban resiience is when the systems and services of the town or city survive shocks and stresses, the peope and organisations are abe to accommodate these stresses into their day-to-day decisions, and the city s institutiona structures continue to function (Asian Deveopment Bank, 2014). There is no singe action that wi make a city resiient to cimate change. Resiience is deveoped through many actions, which buid upon each other and where the focus is on preparation for disaster rather than response to it. This means that pans for resiience shoud be incuded as part of any urban deveopment pan. The Asian Deveopment Bank (2014) identifies the foowing guiding principes for urban resiience: 1 Combine hard and soft measures in the pan: this highights that the actions and behaviours (soft measures) of individuas, communities and institutions are as critica to city resiience as protecting physica structures such as buidings and transport networks (hard measures). Resiience needs reguations, information systems and socia networks. 2 Engage mutipe stakehoders: cities are diverse and compex, so engaging businesses, civi society and government is necessary to buid resiience and to form city-wide pans of preparedness. 3 Enist different geographic and governance scaes: cities have inks with rura areas, internationay, and with each other. These inks can be vita for buiding resiience, providing reief and sharing information about best practice. 4 Look to the future: panning processes have to address current issues but shoud aso consider possibe future situations, even though they may be uncertain. 5 Use oca expertise: peope with oca knowedge can exchange information with externa experts to buid ong-term adaptive capacity. 6 Buid eadership: effective resiience needs strong eadership and accountabiity. 7 Focus on vunerabe communities: meaningfu urban resiience must meet the needs of poor and vunerabe househods who ack the resources avaiabe to others. Buiding communication networks and sharing best practice is an important aspect of these principes. An exampe in Ethiopia is the Ethiopian Cities Association (ECA), which was aunched in 2009 and has a membership of 28 cities. The ECA provides a patform for cities to earn from each other (Cities Aiance, 2014). The ECA aso works with residents and other stakehoders, incuding businesses, to pan urban deveopment more effectivey. The idea is that the network enabes cities to impement reforms faster and more efficienty because of the shared earning. 11 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

12 12.4 Resiience in urban areas 12.5 Eary warning systems An important eement of resiience is having contingency pans that can be put into action if disaster strikes. These are pans that provide answers to such questions as what if the town foods? or what if there s an earthquake? To be effective these pans need an eary warning system to aert peope of impending danger to trigger avoidance actions and reduce risk. Eary warning systems refer to a set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timey and meaningfu warning information to enabe individuas, communities and organisations threatened by a hazard to prepare and to act appropriatey and in sufficient time to reduce the possibiity of harm or oss (UNISDR, 2009). Or, to put it more simpy, eary warning systems are designed to et peope know when something bad is going to happen so they can prepare themseves and try to avoid harm. An eary warning system can bring safety, security and peace of mind. Eary warning systems make contingency panning and evacuation procedures more precise and hep put peope and their property and iveihoods out of harm s way. In Ethiopia there is a high degree of vunerabiity to natura and cimate hazards, particuary among the poorest househods and those ocated in remote areas. Communication to these and other peope through an eary warning system can hep reduce disaster risk by improving preparedness and giving greater protection to peope and their iveihoods. Figure 12.4 demonstrates the essentia eements of an eary warning system. Figure 12.4 The eements of an eary warning system. 12 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

13 Summary of Study Session 12 An eary warning system works best as part of an integrated and unified risk management framework. The government aunched its Nationa Poicy and Strategy on Disaster Risk Management in Juy The main objective of the Poicy is to reduce disaster risks and potentia damage caused by a disaster through estabishing a comprehensive and coordinated disaster risk management system in the context of sustainabe deveopment (FDRE, 2013). Previous poicies had focused on drought and are beieved to have prevented severe drought disasters in 2002 and However, the government now acknowedges the risk of disasters other than drought, such as food, human disease epidemics, ivestock disease outbreaks, crop pests, and forest and bush fires. The most notabe features of this new strategy have been the movement away from concentrating on drought and reief assistance to a more proactive strategy that seeks to monitor, prepare and warn peope of risks both in the urban and rura areas, to decentraise the disaster risk management system and incorporate the strategy into deveopment poicies (FDRE, 2013). With this and other poicies Ethiopia is moving forward with pans to buid adaptive capacity and improve resiience to cimate change. We concude this study session with a comment on the utimate goa for resiience strategies. Whereas eary notions of resiience spoke of systems returning to a stabe and pre-existing state, there is now an acceptance that this is rarey possibe, and perhaps not even desirabe. Instead, more recent ideas have emphasised the system s capacity to reorganise, change and adapt to threats. This is because episodes of stress can be recurrent events, and returning to the situation that existed before the disturbance may simpy be a return to vunerabiity. Change, however, can buid greater resiience in order to be ess reactive and more proactive. Summary of Study Session 12 In Study Session 12, you have earned that: 1 Resiience is the abiity of an individua, a househod, community, or society to withstand, cope with and quicky recover from shocks and stresses such as drought, foods or natura disasters. 2 Cimate change resiience shoud comprise cimate change adaptation, mitigation actions and disaster risk reduction. 3 Adaptation for resiience in the water sector invoves efficient use of water, reducing eakage, robust systems, ecosystem resiience and fexibe management. 4 Water conservation, recycing of water and integrated catchment management are exampes of possibe improvements in water resource management. 5 The Ethiopian government has initiated the Cimate Resiient Green Economy strategy to protect the country from the adverse effects of cimate change and to buid a green economy that wi hep reaise its ambition of reaching midde-income status by Increasing urban popuations make urban resiience a high priority. Deveoping urban resiience incudes recognising the importance of soft and hard systems, engaging a stakehoders, making inks with others, ooking to the future, using oca knowedge, buiding eadership and focusing on vunerabe peope. 13 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

14 Sef-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 12 7 Eary warning systems are designed to warn peope of possibe harm. They require risks to be monitored and anaysed so they can be communicated to peope and responses can be prepared. Sef-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 12 Now that you have competed this study session, you can assess how we you have achieved its Learning Outcomes by answering these questions. SAQ 12.1 (tests Learning Outcome 12.1) Match the foowing words to their correct definitions. resiience abiity to withstand, cope with and quicky recover from shocks and stresses integrated catchment management and and water management approach that takes account of the inks between and use and water resources vunerabiity susceptibiity to the effects of harm green economy economy with zero carbon emissions and a energy derived from renewabe resources. adaptive capacity abiity of a system to adapt to cimate change and cope with its consequences ecosystem services benefits and essentias for iving that peope get from natura environmenta processes back energy economy economic system based on carbon-intensive fossi fues such as coa and petroeum eary warning system mechanisms to produce timey and meaningfu information about a forthcoming emergency SAQ 12.2 (tests Learning Outcome 12.2) Resiience to the uncertainties of cimate change in the water sector depends on the sustainabe use of water. Give four exampes of methods for improving efficiency in water use, choosing one exampe from each of the foowing: agricuture, domestic suppy, industria use and water management. Answer Exampes of methods for improving efficiency of water use you may have chosen incude: 14 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

15 Sef-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 12 From agricuture: drip-feed irrigation; growing drought-resistant crops. From domestic suppy: prompt repair of water pipes to reduce eakage; using ess water at home; using rainwater where appropriate. From industry: reusing water in manufacturing processes where appropriate. From water management: adopting more fexibe approaches; integrated catchment management. SAQ 12.3 (tests Learning Outcomes 12.1 and 12.3) Consider the four piars of Ethiopia s Cimate Resiient Green Economy strategy and identify whether they are exampes of cimate change mitigation or adaptation or both. Answer 1 Agricuture: Both. Changing farming practices is an adaptation to cimate change but in the process, emissions wi be cut which is cimate change mitigation. 2 Forestry: Mitigation. Protecting forests and panting new ones is a way of enhancing carbon sinks which is part of mitigation. 3 Power: Mitigation. Using renewabe energy reduces emissions of greenhouse gases. 4 Transport, industria sector and buidings: Mitigation. Adopting new technoogies in transport, industry and buidings wi improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. SAQ 12.4 (tests Learning Outcome 12.4) Which of the foowing statements is fase? Expain why it is incorrect. (A) (B) (C) URBAN RESILIENCE PLANS SHOULD PRIORITISE POOR AND VULNER- ABLE PEOPLE WHO ARE LESS ABLE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES. CITIES SHOULD SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE SO THEY CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER. THE BEST PEOPLE TO PREPARE URBAN RESILIENCE PLANS ARE INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS IN CLIMATE CHANGE BECAUSE THEY CAN ACCURATELY PREDICT FUTURE CHANGES IN WEATHER PATTERNS. Answer C is fase. Internationa experts in cimate change may have a part to pay in deveoping resiience pans but oca peope need to be invoved in the process. They have essentia knowedge and experience of the particuar situation in the ocation where they ive. It is aso not necessariy true that the internationa experts can accuratey predict the future. There is aways some degree of uncertainty in cimate change predictions. SAQ 12.5 (tests Learning Outcomes 12.1 and 12.5) What are the essentia eements of an effective eary warning system? 15 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016

16 Sef-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 12 Answer The essentia eements of an effective eary warning system are: Risk anaysis and knowedge: possibe hazards and risks need to be understood. Risk monitoring and warning services: there need to be systems in pace to monitor changing situations and raise the aarm if needed. Risk dissemination and communication: news of impending danger needs to be spread quicky and efficienty to everyone who may be affected. Response capabiity: contingency pans shoud be prepared and resources avaiabe so that, when needed, the appropriate response can be made. 16 of 16 Thursday 24 March 2016