Summary
Climate change is already affecting poor
people and their communities around the
world and is creating new events that will
affect their lives for many more years to
come.
Photo: Flooding in Bangladesh, Plan UK
Who created this report?
An organisation called the Commission on
Climate Change and Development. This
organisation gathers 13 important individuals
who bring together a range of knowledge and
experience of different subjects. Together
they provide exciting ways to help
organisations around the world.
Why?
To highlight the ways in which climate change
affects people’s lives and how they handle
the burden of the problems and risk they face
in their local communities.
Climate Change
is not a priority for many
poor people who are badly affected by it. This
is because many poor people are dealing
with more important everyday needs like
extreme poverty e.g. extreme lack of food,
water and shelter.
It is important for us to be aware of the needs
of people affected by climate change and to
help them understand the new conditions the
future climate may bring.
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This report will tell you:
1.
The risks that poor people
face now and in the future
2.
How poor people can use the
resources they have available
to change their lives
3.
What support poor people need
from others to help them
manage the risks and dangers
they face
Climate Change: Impacts and Roles
Of Humans
The Human Dimension of Climate Adaptation: The Importance of Local and Institutional Issues.
(Child Friendly Version)
What
is
Climate Change?
Climate change is the
changes in the weather over a
period of time.
Development and Climate Change
Development has always been about how
people manage many risks. Climate change
is creating new risks faced by many poor
people, especially those living in places
exposed to danger.
Poor people usually adapt to difficult
events alone and unseen by
governments and development
organisations. This can be called
‘autonomous adaptation’
.
To support people, households and
businesses to adapt to climate change, we
must give attention to all the issues that can
control or limit their ability to act. These can
be
social
,
economic
,
cultural
and
political
problems.
Scientists need to look at the ways climate
change affects people and businesses in their
local environment to see whether their
problems can be reduced.
What do young people think about
climate change?
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What
is
Development?
Development is efforts to
help make people’s lives and
communities better, to reduce
the poverty they face and to
reduce how much they need
to rely on others for help.
“
We don’t get enough water
where I live and I think
cleanliness is very important
because good health is
necessary for national
development
” Ansy, 14,
Sierra Leone.
“
The most important
issue to me is global
warming because it is
destroying, killing things
and melting the ice caps”
Earl, 13, UK.
“
Deforestation is very
important to me because when
trees are cut down, it destroys
wildlife, leads to soil erosion
and causes flooding
”
Rafick, 14, Malawi.
The Risks of Climate Change
Because climate change is happening,
adapting to its risks is more
important and urgent.
Predicting change
Sometimes people try to predict how the
climate will be affected in the future and how
we can protect ourselves against the risks
climate change may bring.
Predicting the future is not always reliable
because:
Predictions may be wrong
People have to depend on scientific
knowledge
Predictions ignore the poorest and
smallest groups of people
Climate risks and the poor
It is important to focus on the poor because
their environment and communities are more
easily affected by climate hazards and they
are less able to respond than wealthier
people.
Understanding the different types of risks
people face, how they change, and the ways
poor people cope are important because this
will allow people to make adjustments and
changes to live in new environments.
Photo: Children in rain, Plan UK.
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What
is
Disaster Risk
Reduction?
Disaster risk reduction is the
steps we take to reduce the
damage or risk of damage
that a disaster can cause.
Different risks poor people face
The stress of adapting to climate change is
affecting people and the governments,
societies and businesses that they rely on.
Sudden and Gradual changes to the
climate.
An example of a sudden change in the
climate can be an extreme event like a
hurricane.
Examples of gradual changes in the climate
are temperature and sea level rises.
Surprises
Climate change can cause surprises. An
event may be unexpected. We don’t know
how much it will affect people, how many
people, or the areas it will affect
.
Organisations and Climate change
It is not possible to understand how people
are affected by climate change without
thinking of:
How local and national governments
work
How the companies creating products
and services for people change
How the social structures within local
communities or outside may cause
strain
Why more vulnerable people stay in
danger
Vulnerable people are affected by
age for
example young or old
,
culture e.g. what
people believe
,
access to services e.g.
water
and
gender e.g. boy or girl
.
Image shows how one risk can lead to another risk
Households and communities face many
dangers and risks that can grow over time.
Disasters happening over and over again will
cause the damages to rise. When people go
through one type of risk it can increase their
weakness to other risks.
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Making adjustments to protect
ourselves from Climate Change.
It is important for countries and communities,
to make changes to reduce the dangers
climate change can cause to their lives. Such
changes will make it possible for them to
cope and recover if disasters strike.
Adaptive capacity is about having the ability
to make these changes.
Making changes and development
Being healthy means you are more
able to make changes
Basic education and knowledge allows
you to think about the best way to
make changes
A good government gives people the
opportunities and freedom to make
changes to improve their lives.
Agency and reducing poverty
Being able to use our agency is very useful
and can help in reducing poverty. It brings the
power of individuals and government choices
together, so that people can have the best
chance to make choices that change their
lives for the better.
How People, Businesses and Ecosystems
make changes.
People
Photo: Children pumping water, Plan UK
.
There are two types of changes people can
make:
Adaptation- means planning towards
a long lasting change in a risky or
dangerous environment
Coping- means a short term response
to a danger like a drought or illness of
a parent
To be able to make changes that will improve
their lives, people need to:
•
Know the problems facing them
•
Plan
•
Prepare
•
Think about and carry out the results
they want.
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What is Agency?
A person’s ability to act on
behalf of what she or he
values or has reason to
value.
An economist named
Amartya Sen speaks of the
importance of agency and
Businesses
To make good and quick changes to protect
themselves from the effects of climate
change, businesses need a lot of resources
and money. They need to be able to make
wise decisions, have available money and
have knowledge of the way the business
world works.
Ecosystems
Small events such as
droughts
,
floods
, or
pest outbreaks
might start ecological changes
that are difficult or even impossible to undo.
This can be seen in ecosystems such as
coral reefs, freshwater resources, coastal
seas, forest systems, savannah and
grasslands.
Problems caused by climate change may
lead to terrible changes, such as loss of coral
reefs. Sudden surprises and new infectious
diseases could also become more common.
Young people’s testimonies
about their local environments.
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What are the main risks
which you think climate
change poses to your life?
“
We fully depend on agriculture in
this community and if dry spells
continue there will be no food for us
and our animals. Flu and fever are
common and easily spread whenever
there is a lot of dust
”
Sharon, 15, Kenya.
How will environmental changes
affect your family and
community?
“
Environmental changes will affect
people’s jobs, health and ability to go to
school. The food my family harvests has
finished so we will be hungry. The
whole community will suffer from
diseases due to lack of food, causing
deaths
”
Martyn, 15, Malawi.
People’s ability to develop.
Photo: Child working, Plan UK
Possibilities for people to make changes on
their own with no help is known as
‘autonomous adaptation’ and is closely linked
to issues within the government.
Countries, provinces, districts and towns
facing the most serious challenges are often
those less able to develop and who usually
have little support from their government.
Developing people’s ability means allowing
people and organizations the freedom to
describe and achieve the result they want as
well as making sure they know the challenges
they face.
This ability to develop can be seen at 3
levels
:
Individual
Organizational
Environmental
Promoting relationships to fight against
people’s powerlessness
Environment- Organisations- Individuals
Relationships between people and
organisations can make people aware of any
issues blocking or allowing change.
They can work together to reduce poverty
and helplessness and increase people’s
ability to develop their lives and communities.
Such action relies on:
Providing appropriate leadership and
allowing people to be active members
of society.
Providing access to services,
especially those related to information,
technology, and access to money
Creating business environments that
provide opportunities that pose less
risk to people’s way of lives
.
Copenhagen: Allowing local
changes to happen
If we are going to be successful in protecting
humans against the destruction and damages
caused by climate change, we will need to
make some changes.
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Capacity Development?
Capacity development is about
allowing people to use their ability to
say what their needs are and to
work towards achieving what they
want.
Action Plan for Change
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ACTION PLAN
Different changes should be made at different levels- local,
national and global
More time and money should be put into new ideas that
protect us against climate change
What humans think should be a very important part of every
plan or choice made
We must focus on the knowledge of poor people and their thoughts
on the challenges they face
Use the lessons we have learnt through reducing the risks of other
disasters to fight against climate change
Listen to what poorer and more vulnerable people have to say about
risks and do what they want
Future plans should include the thoughts of people who have
suffered because of climate change and it should ask them how
they want to handle the risks ahead
More ideas are needed to deal with the risk of disasters and other
risks threatening people
International communities should give support to governments in
fighting the problems brought about by climate change
Share the same idea about ‘making change’ and learn from each
other to show how local people, businesses and local governments
are making changes to fight our changing climate
Climate Change Key Events Timeline
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Where can you find more information about Climate Change?
Plan-ed
is Plan UK’s Development Education website which hosts a range of resources mapped to the UK
school curriculum and provides many testimonies and stories of climate change by young people.
International Climate challenge
is an international initiative
looking for young people to develop
ideas and take action to tackle climate change.
‘Taking it Global’
is a social network that connects young people to discuss global issues, including
climate change.
Children in a changing climate
is a group of agencies (including Plan UK).
Their aim is to make sure that children and young people have a voice in climate change debates,
from local community to United Nations(International) level.
Carbon Detectives
Learn about your school’s carbon footprints.
Climate change in our world
Google Earth shows users how climate change could affect the planet
and its people over the next century.
J8
Discussion Forum on UNICEF’s Voices of Youth platform.
Glossary- keywords
Adaptation is changing to suit a new purpose.
Adaptive capacity is about having the ability to make changes.
Agency is a person’s ability to act on behalf of what she or he values or has reason to value.
Autonomous adaptation is when poor people adapt to difficult events alone and unseen by governments and
development organisations.
Capacity development is about allowing people to use their ability to say what their needs are and to achieve
what they want.
Climate change is the changes in the weather over a period of time.
Development is efforts made to help make people’s lives and communities better, reduce the poverty they face
and reduce how much they need to rely on others for help.
Disaster risk reduction is the steps we take to reduce the damage or risk of damage that a disaster can cause.
Government is the body with the power to make and/or enforce laws for a country.
Organisation is a group of people who work together to reach one goal.
United Nations is an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and
security.
Vulnerable is the state of being weak and unprotected.
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