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3rincinc Tocether Disaster and Climate
Chance \eworks: Historic Veetinc in
the Pacific
Article by: Elizabeth Ferris, Co- Director, Brookings -LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Senior Fellow, Foreign
Policy
I recently participated in the Joint Meeting of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management and the Pacific
Climate Change Roundtable July 8 -11th in Nadi, Fiji which marked the first ever attempt to bring together
different regional networks working on climate change and disasters. It was a rich and eye- opening experience
to be present in this gathering of several hundred people representing governments, regional bodies galore,
international organizations, academics, NGOs and civil society groups. The Pacific often seems very far from
Washington, but exciting things are happening in this region that deserve more attention.
It is now generally accepted that one of the consequences of climate change will be an increase in the severity,
intensity and unpredictability of weather -related disasters. And yet in most regions, there are separate
networks of international and regional organizations working on climate change adaptation and on disaster risk
management. On the surface it makes sense to bring these networks together: surely everyone can agree that
one of the ways to adapt to the effects of climate change is to reduce the risk of disasters. How can risks from
disasters be considered separately from risks posed by climate change? But it's not so simple. In this region
(and everywhere), those working on disaster risk reduction are concerned not only about weather -related
disasters but about geo- hazards - earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, for example. Different government
ministries are involved in climate change negotiations than those who are managing national responses to
cyclones and droughts. Different donors and funding mechanisms support climate change adaptation, on
the one hand, and disaster management on the other. Bringing together different networks, and perhaps
eventually merging networks, is easier said than done.
The meeting was an impressive gathering of many international and regional bodies. Jimmie Rodgers, Director
General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, remarked that the convening of this meeting itself was a
milestone. He noted that in 2005 two independent frameworks were adopted in the region - one on climate
change adaptation and another on disaster risk management - and that it has taken eight years to bring these
two together. Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for
Disaster Risk Reduction, explained the relationship between this Pacific 'roadmap' to bring together these two
networks by 2015 in the context of broader international efforts. 2015 will be a big year for new international
frameworks, she noted, with three initiatives underway: the post- Hyogo disaster risk reduction framework,
the post -Kyoto framework on climate change and new sustainable development goals. David Sheppard,
Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, began his comments by
noting that while Pacific countries are responsible for three -tenths of one percent of the world's greenhouse
emissions, the Pacific will be the first to 'go under' and expressed his hopes that this historic meeting would
act as an example for the world.
A theme running throughout the meeting was a call for better understanding of the landscape - who is doing
what in the area of disaster risk management and climate change? How do these organizations interact with