Ilan Kelman examines the history, overlaps and conflicts between climate change, development and disasters in an article on SciDev.net. He writes that, there is no integration of global climate change, development and disaster policy, yet science says the problems, and ways to tackle them, are often interrelated. Kelman advocates for giving climate change policy a wider context, which, he concludes, could spur more action
According to Kelman, by the end of 2015, three global policy processes will have set the stage for how the world responds to major challenges facing humanity in the years to come. A voluntary agreement to tackle disasters was reached in Sendai, Japan, in March; the voluntary Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were finalised in New York, United States, in September; and now, the world is moving towards the December climate change negotiations, aiming to agree an international treaty in Paris, France.
Science has long indicated that these three topics are connected. Separating them may be unnecessary and even counterproductive. Yet this policy separation is now more or less entrenched for the foreseeable future. The biggest immediate policy milestone is the negotiations at COP 21, taking place in Paris, France, this December. The future of intergovernmental climate change action, within or external to development and disaster risk reduction, depends on any agreement reached in Paris and its subsequent ratification.
Nonetheless, many climate change science, policy and practice initiatives occur beyond the UNFCCC and IPCC. In September 2014, the UN hosted a climate summit in New York, United States, where organisations from the public, non-profit and private sectors pledged action in eight areas: agriculture, cities, energy, financing, forests, industry, resilience and transportation. [29] It emphasised how much can happen beyond the UN and the IPCC to deal jointly with climate change action and development that helps people’s day-to-day lives.
Ilan Kelman is a reader in risk, resilience and global health at the Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction and the Institute for Global Health, University College London, United Kingdom. He can be contacted through Twitter @IlanKelman