Who benefits from disasters and the claims of dangerous, man-made (but still avoidable) global warming? Not that disasters never happen, but do we have the right diagnosis in this case?I
would like to add a note of optimism to the report by the New Economics
Foundation (NEF) and the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) called
'The end of development'. Both warn of the reversal of human progress, unless of
course humanity responds as these 'experts' advise.
Such claims call for political analysis.
There
Public water conservation campaigns
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Adapting to climate change is an urgent issue for developing countries. In many regions, the impacts of climate change are already affecting the ability of poor people to sustain livelihoods and provide enough food. How can the international community support developing countries as they adapt to a changing climate?The need to adapt to a changing climate – to take actions
in response to actual or anticipated changes – is increasingly recognised by
all countries, but particularly developing countries. Predicted changes in -
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This report presents an overview of the campaign “Disaster risk reduction begins at school” and the lessons learned from good practice in different countries affected by various natural and man-made disasters. Children are the most vulnerable age group during any disaster, especially those attending school, as school buildings are often destroyed. In keeping with the Hyogo Protocol and achieving the MDGs, the UN/ISDR secretariat and its partners made disaster risk education and safer school facilities the two critical themes of the 2006-2007 World Disaster Reduction Campaign.
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This report provides the first summary by the UN of how climate change, water stress, invasive pests and land degradation may impact world food security, food prices and how we may be able to feed the world in a more sustainable manner. The report examines the need to get smart and more creative about recycling food wastes.
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This report explores how better policies towards human mobility can enhance human development. It lays out the case for governments to reduce restrictions on movement within and across their borders, so as to expand human choices and freedoms.
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The adverse effects of climate change are a threat to the sustainable development of Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) and the long-term effects of climate change may endanger continued existence of some islands. Increased atmosphere and ocean temperatures, greater rainfall variability, as well as increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events may cause sea levels to rise. In 2005 the Pacific Leaders endorsed the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change (PIFACC) 2006 to 2015.
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The agriculture sector faces the challenge of providing adequate food to a growing world population. There is limited scope to expand arable land, and unpredictable weather, floods, and other disastrous events make food production even more challenging. This guidebook provides information on 22 technologies and options for adapting to climate change in the agriculture sector.
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Identifying climate change as a global problem that needs urgent attention, this paper provides a number of learning points about sustainability, particularly in terms of selling the concept of a low carbon living. It is hoped that the findings from this work will help the UK to meet the challenges of low carbon living. It is argued that averting climate change will require millions of individuals to change their everyday behaviour, from the energy they use at home to how they travel.
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This article, which is part of the Water Front edition, focuses on how human-induced climate change will worsen the global water crisis through melting glaciers, rainfall changes, droughts and stronger, more unpredictable natural disasters, which in turn will affect poverty reduction and livelihood security. The author discusses how robust strategies are needed to make human development climate proof, as it is a matter of survival for billions of people. However, she adds, climate proofing is challenging as it is about the distribution of resources.
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This paper explores the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enable people to adapt to the consequences of climate change, particularly in the most vulnerable regions of the world—areas that are geographically, economically or socially marginal, and therefore tend to lie at the edges of the world’s mainstream concerns. Using the Arctic as a case study, the author asserts that in addition to the harmful impacts of climate change, beneficial opportunities can also result, even in some of the most vulnerable regions of the world.