WORLD ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY 2016

Transcription

1 E c o n o m i c & WORLD ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY 2016 Climate Change Resilience: an opportunity for reducing inequalities S o c i a l A f f a i r s

2 Risk of climate change of all countries, by quintile, Source: UN/DESA, based on University of Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index and Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) (2015). wess.un.org 2

3 Economic losses of countries from climate hazards, by income group, Source: Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (2015). wess.un.org 3

4 Human interface with the climate Source: UN/DESA, based on IPCC (2014d), p. 3. wess.un.org 4

5 Inequalities and climate change, a vicious cycle Multidimensional inequality Disproportionate loss of assets and income suffered by disadvantaged groups Greater exposure and vulnerability of disadvantaged groups to climate hazards Climate hazards wess.un.org 5

6 Drivers of exposure and vulnerability to climate hazards through the lens of the empirical evidence Source: UN/DESA. wess.un.org 6

7 Rates of recovery from climate hazards of wealthy and poor households Source: Based on Mutter (2015), technical appendix 1. wess.un.org 7

8 Public policies and resources play an important role At global level: International resources to support adaptation are insufficient Cost of adaptation in developing countries alone are estimated at billion a year by 2050 and may be an underestimate Clearly, greater resources are needed to support adaptation efforts. According to some estimates 77 per cent of climate finance from developed to developing countries is for climate change mitigation; 16 per cent is for climate adaptation There is no accounting mechanism to track climate finance flows. Without a central accounting system and clear definitions it is not clear what are considered climate-compatible projects. This may lead to double-counting or undercounting of climate finance flows wess.un.org 8

9 Climate finance flows along their life cycle, for latest year available (mostly 2014) Source: Climate Policy Initiative (2015). wess.un.org 9

10 Public policies play an important role At the country level: Far reaching, transformative policies are needed which simultaneously address immediate vulnerabilities as well as existing structural inequalities: Immediate assistance in the wake of climate disasters, disaster risk reduction and adaptation measures, as well as sound development policies focused on reducing inequalities As part of longer-term transformative strategies for sustainable development The uncertainty associated to climate change, its local impacts and the inter-linkages that exist across multiple development dimensions require policymaking systems that are: a) coherent, to address the socio-economic sources of inequality with consideration to the environment and a sustainable use of natural resources; b) participatory, to address the specific local context where inequalities exist and build on the unique understanding of specific risks and vulnerabilities at the local level, and; c) flexible and iterative, to be able to react to new information and a changing context wess.un.org 10

11 Methodologies to strengthen policy systems Multiple efforts are contributing to advance the science of climate change and the use of integrated methodologies to address the impacts of climate change on human systems The integration of diverse tools for assessing impacts and policy options is important for taking proper account of the interlinkages across the different dimensions of sustainable development And to assess policy options with a focus on inequalities Support to strengthen the capacity of countries to improve the use of integrated assessments will help to build the science-policy interface envisioned in the 2030 agenda wess.un.org 11

12 An integrated approach to climate impact assessments Source: UN/DESA. wess.un.org 12

13 The four stages of the decision-making process Source: UN/DESA, adapted from Jones and others (2014), fig wess.un.org 13

14 Improved data and information systems to identify people at risk and to assess policy options People at risk include: low-lying coastal areas and drylands Mountainous and rural areas Remote areas People who live form agriculture and forest Informal settlements Most countries have population censuses and surveys to monitor population and its social and economic characteristics. But, cannot be easily integrated with geospatial measurement and environmental conditions. wess.un.org 14

15 Improved data and information systems to identify people at risk and to assess policy options Unprecedented levels of cooperation at the global and national levels are needed to identify those vulnerable to climate hazards, understand the risks they incur, and monitor the effect of policy interventions. Harmonizing definitions and classifications and building countries capacities to integrate across data sources requires unprecedented levels of cooperation at the global and national levels and across disciplines. wess.un.org 15

16 Improved data and information systems to identify people at risk and to assess policy options Compatible information is needed on: population and demography (including income, occupation and poverty, education and health); economic activity (including in agriculture, fishing and forestry); cartography and geographic information systems; meteorology; geology and land use hydrology and ecology; and natural disasters Yet, basic information on population size, socio-economic characteristics and risk factors remains as rough approximations. wess.un.org 16

17 Population living in coastal cities with 300,000 inhabitants or more on 1 July 2014, * Source: United Nations (2015b); Gu and others (2015). * Preliminary estimates for 2015 only. wess.un.org 17

18 E c o n o m i c & S o c i a l A f f a i r s Thank you More information: wess.un.org