Our Response
To meet this challenge, IUCN has undertaken a situation analysis to identify needs and gaps in its organisational capacity to address disasters and climate change adaptation. We found there were differing levels of experience between those regional offices and thematic programmes confronted with disasters on a regular basis versus less frequently. Different types of disasters, such as recurrent flooding versus conflict-related disasters, have required regional offices and thematic programmes to develop a variety of responses. A great majority of thematic programmes and regions have included global results addressing these issues in the Intersessional programme 2009-2012, especially Global results 4.2 and 2.1.
IUCN is uniquely positioned to integrate ecosystem management, livelihoods, community vulnerability, climate change adaptation and disaster management.
In order to meet these goals, IUCN needs to build on lessons learned and develop innovative tools for assessing and addressing those elements that make a community vulnerable in the first place, and secondly, which factors are most likely to increase resilience to climate change and disasters.
Building partnerships: in addressing community vulnerability and resilience to disasters and climate change, IUCN recognizes that strong partnerships are required between donors, governments, disaster management authorities and environmental authorities. IUCN is already working closely with UNEP and ISDR to advance common goals under the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction. http://www.preventionweb.net. Several regional partnerships to coordinate environment and disaster reduction actions have been initiated. If you would like more information on how contribute to this effort, please contact Neville Ash, Ecosystem Management Coordinator.
IUCN’s Innovation fund, has recently awarded funds to IUCN-EMP to coordinate a new project, “Climate change adaptation, Vulnerability and Resilience: Toward Community Based Assessment and Response”, in collaboration with a number of IUCN Regions. Phase I of the project is to begin in October, 2008, with possibility of funding for Phase II. This proposed project suggests using the building on existing resources within IUCN to better communicate internally about lessons learned from disaster response. It then sets out to integrate tools being developed across the organization in order to better prepare for future climate change impacts. IUCN has the opportunity to learn from its experiences with disaster response about what makes a community resilient if vulnerability is properly addressed. These lessons can be tailored to address adaptation in order to guide governments and donors on how to more effectively respond to climate change and disasters. More
