guiding principles on climate change - act...

Guiding Principles on

ClimateChange

Guiding Principles on Climate Change for ACT Alliance Programmes

30 March 2010This document is accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation to support ACT member dissemination at country programme and project level.It can be downloaded from the ACT Alliance website at www.actalliance.org

“The atmosphere envelops the Earth, nurturing and protecting life. In response to God’s love for creation, we have a responsibility to care for the well-being of Earth and its ecological processes. Plants, animals and every member of the human family are dependent on this gift and have a right to its sustaining vitality. The atmosphere belongs to no one. It is to be shared by everyone, today and in the future. Economic and political powers cannot be allowed to impair the health of the atmosphere nor claim possession of it”.

Source: World Council of Churches Statement (2000), “The Atmosphere as Global Commons: Responsible Caring and Equitable Sharing”. A Justice Statement on Climate Change, prepared for the 6th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP6) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change held in The Hague, Netherlands, November 2000

This document was developed by the ACT Climate Change Group and approved by the ACT International and ACT Development Executive Committees in 2009. All ACT members were consulted during the drafting process. It was adopted as an ACT Alliance document in 2010. It will be updated regularly to reflect the outcomes of the ongoing international climate negotiations and new learning on climate change.

Cover design and layout: Kendra Bernard, ACT Alliance Secretariat

Executive Summary 2

1. Introduction 41.1 Definition of climate change 41.2 Why does ACT need a distinct ‘Climate Change’ agenda? 5

2. The impact and implications of climate change 62.1 How is our climate changing? 62.2 The earth’s carbon capacity 72.3 The impact of climate change 82.4 Implications for vulnerable people 92.5 Global response strategies 102.6 Human rights dimensions 11

3. International climate change negotiations 143.1 United Nations negotiations 14

4. Theological rationale 164.1 The threat to creation 164.2 A matter of justice 16

5. Our specific mandate and role as the ACT Alliance 185.1 ACT Vision and Mission Statement 185.2. Link to ACT Alliance objectives 185.3 Current status of ACT member climate change initiatives 19

6. Guiding principles 21

Annexes 30Annex 1: Definition of key climate change-related terms 30Annex 2: Key reference documents 33Annex 3: Practical ways to reduce carbon footprint 34

AcronymsIPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeUNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeNAPA National Adaptation Programme of Action

Contents

2

There is now ample evidence that global warming will exacerbate human vulnerability and increase the risk of disasters, worsen development conditions and endanger the enjoyment of fundamental human rights over the coming decades. Those most at risk include people whose livelihood systems are based on agriculture, forests, fisheries and pastoralism – livelihoods that are already vulnerable to climate change - rural and urban people inhabiting coasts, floodplains, mountains, island communities and the arctic (among others). Within the vulnerable groups, those who have precarious socio-economic status are likely to experience greater risk, especially poor and vulnerable groups.

The ACT Alliance (hereinafter referred to as ACT) is already confronted with a growing number of disasters that are provoked or aggravated by climate change. It also sees how climate change undermines long-term development goals, eroding resilience and the coping capacities of households and communities as a result of progressive deterioration of natural resources.

This paper titled “Guiding Principles on Climate Change for ACT Alliance Programmes” seeks to help ACT members to more effectively address climate change on the ground. As an alliance of Christian members we recognise that climate change is a matter of justice. As human beings we have a duty to manage our natural resources and the global environment in a sustainable manner so that we do not jeopardize the lives of future generations.

This paper acknowledges that diversity of opinion exists among ACT members on whether, when and how to engage in climate change programmes. Nevertheless, it identifies key guiding principles to encourage ACT members to consider the contributions of climate change and other climate-related events in the planning and management of all development and humanitarian assistance programmes, where relevant. The paper also encourages each ACT organisation and each ACT employee to make an effort to reduce its carbon footprint.

Executive Summary

3

March 30, 2010 Guiding Principles On Climate Change For ACT Alliance Programmes

The overarching, operative principle of the ACT Alliance on climate change is to: “promote justice and rights for women, men and children affected by climate change”.

Five supporting principles are as follows:

Principle 1: Integrate climate-related considerations into ACT member activities, ensuring that the rights of communities and crisis-affected populations are addressed and genuine partnerships created.

Principle 2: Promote and address ‘mitigation’ and ‘adaptation’ approaches, based on the concept of shared ecological space for all world inhabitants.

Principle 3: Develop ACT member capacities to effectively address the challenges of global climate change.

Principle 4: Adjust programme planning and management in accordance with ACT policies and principles on climate change.

Principle 5: Adopt a twin-track approach to advocacy, promoting the integration of climate change responses in sub-national, national, and regional policies and programmes, while advocating for policy change at the global level.

4

This document encourages ACT members to consider the contributions of climate change and other climate-related events in the planning and management of all development and humanitarian assistance programmes. It acknowledges that climate change has become an issue of major concern for the world today, with the most affected regions being the Arctic, small island nations, sub-Saharan Africa, and the delta regions of Asia. It recognizes that human vulnerability and the risk of disasters are predicted to increase over the coming decades as a direct result of global warming. The people most affected are the poorest of the poor: those who are inevitably least equipped to deal with the effects of change. This includes poor people in more prosperous societies.

There is now broad agreement that climate change is most visible in the increased frequency and severity of hydro-meteorological events, such as droughts, floods, sea-level rise and tropical storms, as well as having an affect on all aspects of human livelihood, including food security, health and the environment. Therefore, to effectively address the negative impacts ACT members will require a multi-faceted approach that looks at Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), broader disaster/emergency preparedness, emergency response and longer term sustainable development, thereby cutting across the emergency to development continuum.

This document is complemented by other ACT documents, including:

• The ACT November 2009 Publication: “Tackling Climate Change – Communities Making a Difference”, a good practice guide that includes examples of fourteen ACT climate change projects throughout the globe;

• The ACT Gender Policy Principles (2008); and• The ACT Disaster Risk Reduction guidelines.1

1.1 Definition of climate change

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climate change as: ‘a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.’

In simple terms, ‘climate change’ refers to long-term (over a period of 30 years),

1 The ACT Disaster Risk Reduction Guidelines for members is a work in progress

Introduction1.

5


significant changes in regional climate characteristics, including temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind, and severe weather events.

1.2 Why does ACT need a distinct ‘Climate Change’ agenda?

The sheer dimension of climate change and its likely effects on human beings around the globe makes it imperative for individuals, civil society organisations and governments to adopt new strategies, instead of continuing to do “business as usual”. Aid organisations such as ACT are particularly challenged by climate change because both the size and the type of support provided to people in need have to be adjusted to this global threat.

There is growing debate and a plethora of documentation suggesting many and varied approaches to minimising climate change and on how to protect vulnerable people from hazards posed by global warming. In recent years, governments, private business sectors, environmental groups, insurance companies and development and humanitarian organisations have all put forward their own perceptions and strategies for addressing the impacts of climate change. Accordingly, ACT needs to clearly determine its own approach and position based on its past experiences, its vision and mandate, and its commitment to promoting and protecting the rights and participation of vulnerable populations.

As women and men are affected in different ways by climate change, ACT must consider gender inequalities. For example, more women die than men as the direct and indirect result of natural disasters, and not because of physical differences. “This effect is strongest in countries with very low social and economic rights for women. In contrast, in those countries, in which women in their everyday lives have almost equal rights as men, natural disasters kill men and women about equally.” 2

It is also essential for ACT to define key principles and articulate its ethical conviction on the key issues related to climate change, with so many other players and interest-led groups and institutions potentially being involved.

Finally, the voice of the entire ACT family should be heard within national, regional and international discussion fora in order to make sure that the weakest and most vulnerable people are not neglected.

2 London School of Economics (2006), quoting research presented at the Royal Geographical Society’s annual conference in London (1 September 2006)

6

2.1 How is our climate changing?

There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. The evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures and from phenomena such as increases in average global sea levels, retreating glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems.

The existence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is vital to life on Earth – in their absence, average temperatures would be about 30 centigrade lower than they are today. However, there is growing evidence that human activities are causing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases – including carbon dioxide, methane, troposphere ozone, and nitrous oxide – to rise well above pre-industrial levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) claims that “carbon dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas”…and that “the global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased from a pre-industrial value of about 280 parts per million (ppm) to 379 ppm in 2005. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide in 2005 exceeds by far the natural range over the last 650,000 years (180 to 300 ppm) as determined from ice cores”.3

Scientists generally agree on broad climate change phenomena and potential trends, which must be given due consideration when planning and managing a humanitarian assistance and programmes. Some of these are:

• Over most land areas, fewer cold days and nights, and ever warmer and more frequent hot days and nights;

• Warm spells and heat waves. Frequency increases over most land areas;• Heavy precipitation events. Frequency increases over most areas;• Area affected by drought increases;• Intense tropical cyclone activity increases; and• Increased incidence of extreme high sea level (excludes tsunamis).4

3 IPPC (2009), “A report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Summary for Policy Makers”4 This section draws from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Synthesis Report, Summary for Policymakers, 2007 as outlined in a UN report on The Inter-agency Standing Committee, 70th working group meeting, on the Humanitarian Impact of Climate Change, 11-13 March 2008, hosted by UNICEF NY.

The impact and implications of climate change

2.

7


2.2 The earth’s carbon capacity

Carbon exists in the Earth’s atmosphere primarily as the gas carbon dioxide (CO2). Although it is a small percentage of the atmosphere, it plays a vital role in supporting life. Of all the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere, about one quarter is taken up by land plants, another quarter by the oceans.

Ecosystems gain most of their carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere every year by plants is almost perfectly balanced by the amount of carbon dioxide put back into the atmosphere by respiration and decay. But small disturbances in the balance can have huge implications for the earths system.

Some estimates suggest that the steady increase in atmospheric carbon is due to fossil fuel combustion which contributes approximately 5.5 billion metric tonnes of carbon every year, and land-use changes which account for another 1.1 billion tonnes. In contrast, the natural ecosystems such as oceans, soil, vegetation, are absorbing approximately 3.4 billion tonnes of carbon annually more than they are releasing.5 If the earth’s capacity to store carbon dioxide is shared by all world inhabitants (six billion in the reference year 2000) it means that every person on earth is entitled to a carbon dioxide footprint of two tonnes per person per year. This is the sustainable level.

In reality, the world-wide average is four tonnes of carbon dioxide per person per year and the average of all industrialised nations is about 11 tonnes of carbon dioxide, per person, per year.6 Many developing countries have footprints substantially below two tonnes. They do not use their carbon space. Instead their carbon space is more than occupied by the rich countries. Therefore, from a justice perspective, the rich countries have to reduce GHG emissions by up to 90%.

Debates on rights and responsibilities continue over who can be held accountable for harm caused due to increased CO2 and other emissions over the years – in other words - who is going to repay the ecological debt.

The reality is that that not all societies have been contributing equally to global warming. Industrialised countries in the global north have made disproportionate

5 Experts claim that “the atmosphere is annually absorbing approximately 3.4 gigatons of carbon more than it is releasing” Source: Pew Center on Global Climate Change, 2005, “The cost of U.S. forest-based carbon sequestration”, Robert N. Stavins, Harvard University & Kenneth R. Richards, Indiana University.6 http://timeforchange.org/CO2-emissions-by-country

8

use of the earth’s ecological space (see box)7 in their quest for economic development, “without adequate compensation, reparation or restitution”.8

There is now broad agreement that the era of uncontrolled exploitation of the earth’s natural resources must come to an end and with it a reduction in carbon emissions. Debates about equitable ecological space and per capita carbon dioxide emissions will, no doubt, continue into the next decade and beyond.

2.3 The impact of climate change

Climate change is already compromising efforts to improve standards of living and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Many regions are already experiencing the negative effects of climate change, particularly less prosperous countries. Impacts are physical, ecological, social, economic, political and ethical.

Some regions are experiencing drastic changes of rainfall patterns, resulting in severe droughts and unprecedented floods. Sea levels are rising. Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are increasing in strength and frequency, causing loss of life and destruction of the environment and of property. A water crisis brought on by severe droughts and

7 The term ‘ecological space’ as used in R.J. Rummel, The Dynamic Psychological Field, 1975 in relation to “the biophysical spaces” of ecological, environmental, and biological, Chapter 25.8 World Council of Churches, Sept 2009 “Statement on eco-justice and ecological debt”.

Ecological space In 1975 R.J. Rummell used this term in the psychosocial field in relation to “the biophysical spaces” of ecological, environmental, and biological. He referred to ecological space as “our physical environment, the climate, resources, geography, the forests, lakes, and sky, the moon, planets, and stars, the physical laws”.

He went on to say that “while evolving biologically, socially, and culturally, we have formed a mutual system of intimate relations with our physical environment, an ecological space that is part of a continuum with our culture, society, and mentality”.

The term was later used in relation to climate change by Tim Hayward (2006), a professor of environmental theory referring to ecological space as all biophysical resources, including all environmental capacities and natural resources.

See, Hayward, T, 2006 “Human Rights Versus Emissions Rights: Climate Justice and the Equitable Distribution of Ecological Space”.

9


sea water intrusion in coastal areas has resulted in a lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation for millions of people. Antarctica, the Arctic, Greenland and mountainous regions are undergoing extraordinary rates of glacier melting due to temperature rise.9

Climate change is predicted to negatively affect economic growth and poverty alleviation efforts, with huge financial investment being required to mitigate the effects of change. In financial terms, windstorms are the most costly weather-related catastrophe followed by floods. In Europe, present-day annual average losses from flooding are greater than wind-related losses (US$8 – 10 billion compared to US$3 billion). In developing countries, particularly those in Southeast Asia, damages from flooding typically exceed those from wind damage.10

Climate change is equally seen as a threat to sustainable development, especially in developing countries, and could have severe implications for people’s right to adequate food, clean water, shelter and health care. Other likely impacts are on energy supply, environmental health and human settlements. Women and men with livelihood systems based on agriculture will have to cope with increased climate variability and more extreme weather events having both positive and negative impacts on crop yields. Climate change, together with increasing demand for food, feed, fibre and fuel, has the potential to irreversibly damage the natural resource base on which all life depends, with significant consequences for the enjoyment of the right to food for many.

2.4 Implications for vulnerable people

The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report reiterates that those who are and will be more affected by climate change are the most vulnerable communities, among them the poor, children, elderly people, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, those living in the low lying atolls in the Pacific and other small islands like in the Caribbean, in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions, delta regions in Asia and in the Arctic region.

Over the long term, there is serious risk that further global warming could have a net and persistent negative impact on the development prospects of developing countries and amplify the challenges posed by ecosystem fragility, economic dependence upon agriculture, and population growth in developing countries. On top of that, almost

9 Adapted from: Climate Change and the World Council of Churches, November 200810 Association of British Insurers (2005) “Financial Risks of Climate Change”, Summary Report, June 2005

10

four billion people – two-thirds of the world’s population – live in countries that are at high risk of conflicts and instability as consequences of climate change. Many of the countries predicted to be worst affected by climate change are also affected – or threatened – by violent conflict.11

In addition to the direct effects of climate change, many developing countries are likely to face serious constraints to development, especially countries whose economic development is based on industries that produce high CO2 emissions. All countries, with the exception of less developed countries, will be requested to deviate from business as usual and reduce emissions within the next two commitment periods,12 based on the individual country’s ability to pay, and size of the carbon footprint.

2.5 Global response strategies

There is general agreement on a number of basic strategies that can be taken to address the impacts of climate change. Two key internationally recognized strategies are ‘mitigation’ and ‘adaptation’. Broadly speaking, mitigation addresses the causes while adaptation addresses the impacts of climate change.

Experts agree that unmitigated climate change would, in the long term, be very likely to exceed the capacity of natural, managed and human systems to adapt. The time at which such limits could be reached will vary between sectors and regions. Early mitigation actions would avoid further locking in carbon intensive infrastructure and reduce climate change and associated adaptation needs.13

Adaptation seeks to reduce vulnerability to climate change and demands an in-depth knowledge of the local context and the adaptive capabilities of communities. Women and men in traditional societies have always adapted to variations in their climate by making preparations based on their resources and their knowledge accumulated through experience of past weather patterns. The scope and speed of climate change, however, demands a more supportive strategy to address future implications for vulnerable communities. Examples of adaptation strategies might include improving education, training and awareness of climate change, integrated water and land resource management, planting drought-resistant crops, or adopting new techniques for water conservation.

11 SIDA: A climate of conflict, 200812 The Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period ends in 201213 IPCC 2007 Synthesis report

11


‘Mainstreaming’ climate change adaptation into development thinking and practices has also been recommended as a priority. Mainstreaming in the context of climate change demands that activities related to humanitarian or development projects or programmes do not increase the vulnerability of women and men and enhance their adaptive capacity to cope with the manifestations of climate change.

There are already many innovative projects around the world addressing the growing impacts of climate change on local communities. There is a need for technology transfer, duplication of other well functioning adaptation measures around the world, and the invention of new country-specific measures and strategies.

2.6 Human rights dimensions

Climate change has significant implications for human rights, adversely affecting the right to life, to food, to water, to health, to adequate housing, as well as the right of peoples to self-determination. Mitigation and adaptation strategies may also further impact on the enjoyment of human rights. But human rights also provide a comprehensive framework for responding effectively and equitably to the threats that climate change pose to humanity.

The United Nations Human Rights Council recognised the close relationship between climate change and human rights in a 2008 resolution entitled “Human rights and climate change”,14 in which the Council expressed concern that climate change “poses an immediate and far-reaching threat to people and communities around the word.”15 In March 2009, the Council adopted a second resolution on human rights and climate change in which it recognised that the effects of climate change “will be felt most acutely by those segments of the population who are already in a vulnerable situation” and that “effective international cooperation to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change … is important in order to support national efforts for the realization of human rights implicated by climate change-related impacts.”16

The right to life is the “supreme right”, “basic to all human rights”, and it is a right

14 Human Rights Council Resolution 7/23, “Human rights and climate change”, 28 March 2008.15 The resolution also called for a study of human rights and climate change, the findings of which are summarised below. See OHCHR Report on the relationship between climate change and human rights, UN doc. A/HRC/10/61, 15 January 2009.16 Human Rights Council Resolution 10/4, “Human rights and climate change”, 25 March 2009.

12

from which no derogation is permitted even in time of public emergency.17 A number of observed and projected effects of climate change will pose direct and indirect threats to human lives. The IPCC predicts with high confidence an increase in people suffering from death, disease and injury from heatwaves, floods, storms, fires and droughts. Equally, climate change will affect the right to life through an increase in hunger and malnutrition and related disorders impacting on child growth and development; cardio-respiratory morbidity and mortality related to ground-level ozone.18

The right to food is included in several human rights treaties. As a consequence of climate change, the potential for food production is projected initially to increase at mid to high latitudes with an increase in global average temperature in the range of 1-3° C. However, at lower latitudes crop productivity is projected to decrease, increasing the risk of hunger and food insecurity in the poorer regions of the world.19 According to one estimate, an additional 600 million people will face malnutrition due to climate change,20 with a particularly negative effect on sub-Saharan Africa.21 Poor people living in developing countries are particularly vulnerable given their disproportionate dependency on climate-sensitive resources for their food and livelihoods.22

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESR) has defined the right to water as the right of everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses, such as drinking, food preparation and personal and household hygiene.23 Loss of glaciers and reductions in snow cover are projected to increase and to negatively affect water availability for more than one-sixth of the world’s population supplied by melt-water from mountain ranges. Weather extremes, such as drought and flooding, will also impact on water supplies.24 Climate change will thus exacerbate existing stresses on water resources and compound the problem of access to safe drinking water, currently denied to an estimated 1.1 billion people globally and a major cause of morbidity and disease.25

The right to health is also significantly impacted by climate change. Climate change is

17 Human Rights Committee, General Comments No. 6 (1982) and No. 14 (1984) on the right to life in the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.18 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR4 Working Group II Report, p. 393.19 IPCC AR4 Synthesis Report, p. 48.20 UNDP Human Development Report 2006, “Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis”.21 IPCC AR4 Working Group II Report, p. 275.22 Ibid., p. 359.23 CESCR General Comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water (Articles 11 and 12), paragraph 2. While not explicitly mentioned in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right is seen to be implicit in Articles 11 (adequate standard of living) and 12 (health).24 IPCC AR4 Synthesis Report, pp. 48-49.25 Millennium Ecosystems Assessment ‘05, Ecosystems & Human Well-being, Synthesis, p. 52.

13


projected to affect the health status of millions of people, including through increases in malnutrition, increased diseases and injury due to extreme weather events, and an increased burden of diarrheal, cardio-respiratory and infectious diseases.26 Global warming may also affect the spread of malaria and other vector borne diseases in some parts of the world.27 Most at risk are those individuals and communities with a low adaptive capacity. Conversely, addressing poor health is one central aspect of reducing vulnerability to the effects of climate change.28

The right to adequate housing has been defined as “the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity”.29 Observed and projected climate change will affect the right to adequate housing in several ways. Sea level rise and storm surges will have a direct impact on many coastal settlements.30 In the Arctic region and in low-lying island States such impacts have already led to the relocation of peoples and communities.31 Settlements in low-lying mega-deltas are also particularly at risk, as evidenced by the millions of people and homes affected by flooding in recent years.

The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law. Important aspects of the right to self-determination include the right of a people not to be deprived of its own means of subsistence. While the right to self-determination is a collective right held by peoples rather than individuals, its realisation is an essential condition for the effective enjoyment of individual human rights. Sea level rise and extreme weather events related to climate change are threatening the habitability and, in the longer term, the territorial existence of a number of low-lying island States. Equally, changes in the climate threaten to deprive indigenous peoples of their traditional territories and sources of livelihood. Either of these impacts would have implications for the right to self-determination.32

But human rights are not merely relevant to assessing climate change impacts on the enjoyment of rights. According to one view: “Mitigation and adaptation strategies each

26 IPCC AR4 Synthesis Report, p. 48.27 OHCHR Report on the relationship between climate change and human rights, UN doc. A/HRC/10/61, 15 January 2009, p. 12. According to the OHCHR, uncertainty remains about the potential impact of climate change on malaria at local and global scales because of a lack of data and the interplay of other contributing non-climatic factors such as socio-economic development, immunity and drug resistance (see IPCC Working Group II Report, p. 404).28 OHCHR Report on the relationship between climate change and human rights, UN doc. A/HRC/10/61, 15 January 2009, p. 12.29 CESCR General Comment No. 12, para. 6.30 IPCC AR4 Working Group II Report, p. 333.31 Ibid., p. 672.32 OHCHR Report on the relationship between climate change and human rights, UN doc. A/HRC/10/61, 15 January 2009, p. 14.

14

open up hard human rights questions: assigning accountability for extraterritorial harms; allocating burdens and benefits, rights and duties among perpetrators and victims, both public and private; constructing reliable enforcement mechanisms. Human rights advocates will be forced to look hard at large justice issues they can usually set aside.”33

3.1 United Nations negotiations

The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change34 provides the foundation for governments’ efforts to address the problem of rising concentrations of ‘greenhouse gases’ in the earth’s atmosphere. Parties to the Convention meet annually in the Conference of the Parties (COP)35 to monitor its implementation and continue talks on how best to tackle climate change. Recognizing that the 1992 Convention was weak in terms of commitments, intense negotiation led to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol at the third international COP meeting (COP 3) in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997. It entered into force on 16 February 2005. The Kyoto Protocol establishes legally binding commitments for the reduction of a number of greenhouse gases.

The Kyoto Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ with parties agreeing that:

• The largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed countries;

• Per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low; and • The share of global emissions originating in developing countries will grow to

meet their social and developmental needs.

In other words, emerging economies such as China and India and developing countries do not, as yet, have a predetermined limit on greenhouse gas emissions because they were not the main contributors to the greenhouse gas emissions during the pre-treaty industrialization period. Developed countries have set numerical limitations. However, even without the commitment to reduce according to the Kyoto target,

33 International Council on Human Rights Policy, “Climate change and human rights (2008)”, www.ichrp.org/en/projects/136 (visited 31 March 2010).34 An outcome of the Rio Conference on the Environment and Development in May 1992. 35 The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the highest decision-making authority of the Convention. It is an association of all the 192 countries that are Parties to the Convention – those countries that have ratified, accepted, approved, or acceded to, the treaty.

International climate change negotiations

3.

15


developing countries do share the common responsibility that all countries have in reducing emissions.

The Protocol committed higher income countries to assist developing countries with finance and technologies. It also supported capacity building for developing countries in addressing impact, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change.

By 2009, 183 of the 192 States Parties had ratified the protocol. The US, a major emitter of greenhouse gases, has not ratified the treaty but is a Party to the Convention. Prior to the 2009 UNFCCC Copenhagen COP 15 Conference there was growing pressure to engage the US and some developing countries which do not have targets but have rapidly increasing emissions, such as China and India.

The Copenhagen conference in December 2009 aimed to establish an ambitious global climate agreement for the period from 2012 when the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol expires. While the conference did not achieve a legally binding agreement, nor a second commitment period for the post-Kyoto period, a political ‘Accord’ – the Copenhagen Accord – was written by a limited number of parties. The Accord was not formally adopted by COP15, but it was taken note of and in February 2010 around 100 countries had associated themselves with the Accord.

The accord was notable in that it referred to a collective commitment by developed countries for new and additional resources, including forestry and investments through international institutions that will approach US$30 billion for fast start finance the period 2010 - 2012. The Accord additionally states that US$100 billion will become available for long term financing. How fast start and long term financing relate to Official Development Assistance (ODA) is not yet clear. The negotiations on extending the Kyoto Protocol are as yet unresolved, and will be renegotiated in the run-up to COP 16 in Mexico in November/December 2010.

16

4.1 The threat to creation

The Bible teaches the wholeness of creation. According to the biblical texts, life is created, sustained and made whole by the power of God’s Holy Spirit (Genesis 1; Romans 8). God creates human beings out of the dust of the earth (Genesis 2) and charges humanity, women and men equally, to care for the earth, to be stewards of it (Genesis 1:28), since humanity is not the master of the earth but steward to responsibly care for the integrity of creation. God wondrously and lovingly created a world with more than enough resources to sustain generations upon generations of human beings and other living creatures. But humanity is not always faithful in its stewardship. Sin breaks relationships among humankind and with the created order (Genesis 3 and 4; Jeremiah 14, Hosea 4:1-3). Bearing the marks of human sin, “creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Romans 8:19). When creation is threatened by climate change, churches and the ecumenical movement at large are called to speak out and act as an expression of their commitment to life, justice and love.36

4.2 A matter of justice

Climate change is considered a matter of justice, particularly since those who are most affected are those who have contributed least to global warming. The climate change crisis, therefore, offers the opportunity to look at the problem from a theological perspective as a ‘kairos’, i.e. a propitious time to see, judge and act in the local, national and global arenas. Climate change reveals the need of societies to shift to a new paradigm where the operative principles are ethics, justice, equity, solidarity, human development and environmental conservation. This change of paradigm is what in theological words can be called ‘metanoia’: conversion, change of mind and of behaviour.37

Climate change being a matter of justice, we should remember justice is at the core of

36 Cf. WCC’s statement on the Tenth anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol (2007) and the Minute on Global Warming and Climate Change (2008). Available online at: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/executive-committee/etchmiadzin-september-2007/28-09-07-statement-on-the-10th-anniversary-of-the-kyoto-protocol.html, and http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/central-committee/geneva-2008/reports-and-documents/public-issues/minute-on-global-warming-and-climate-change.html37 Cf. e.g. “This far and no further. Act fast and act now”, WCC statement to the UNFCCC COP13 in Bali, December 2007. http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/justice-diakonia-and-responsibility-for-creation/climate-change-water/14-12-07-statement-to-cop13-un-climate-conference-bali.html.

Theological rationale4.

17


the biblical message. The God of the Bible is a God of Justice who cares and protects the most vulnerable: “He secures justice for widows and orphans, and loves the alien who lives among you, giving him food and clothing” (Deut. 10: 18). The quest for justice in the Bible is intimately related to the rights of the oppressed and the vulnerable ones, victims’ rights: “Cease to do evil and learn to do right. Pursue justice and champion the oppressed. Give the orphan his rights, plead the widow’s case” (Is. 1: 17). This clear guidance must shape our future work. Based on this guidance, we believe that:

• the resources available to us are not our own, but are a gift from God, and our vocation to service calls us to be faithful to principles of good stewardship;

• the earth and all it contains are God’s gifts, given out of love and care for all created beings;

• God the Father as known through his Son Jesus Christ and revealed through the Holy Spirit and Scriptures is the God of love who stands beside the poor and oppressed.

Therefore, we will:

• Speak out and act against those conditions, structures and systems which increase vulnerability and perpetuate poverty, injustice, human rights violations and the destruction of the environment;

• Commit ourselves to act in ways that will protect and restore the environment; and

• Work to change systems and structures that degrade the environment and thereby increase the vulnerability of poor and marginalised communities.

18

5.1 ACT Vision and Mission Statement

The Vision Statement for the ACT Alliance38 states that, “united in the common task of all Christians to manifest God’s unconditional love for all people, ACT works towards a world community where all God’s creation lives with dignity, justice, peace and full respect for human rights and the environment.”

The Mission Statement emphasises that, as churches and church-related organisations, we work together for positive and sustainable change in the lives of people affected by poverty and injustice through coordinated and effective humanitarian, development and advocacy work.

The Statement of Commitment contains passages relevant to climate change and its effects and impact, as follows: ACT members are bound together by core values that are grounded in our Christian faith and which guide our humanitarian, development and advocacy work.

5.2 Link to ACT Alliance objectives

More specifically, the objectives of the ACT Alliance focus on activities that closely relate to the need to respond to climate change and its effects, namely:

• Be engaged in high quality and effective transformational development programmes that contribute towards a positive change in people’s lives;

• Respond quickly and effectively to humanitarian emergencies to save lives, ease suffering and support communities;

• Work together on disaster risk reduction programmes, emergency preparedness and post-emergency rehabilitation and reconstruction;

• Analyse, prioritise, plan and respond together at the national, regional and global level;

• Work and advocate together for changes in the structures and systems which impoverish and marginalise people, with particular attention to participation and protection of human rights of vulnerable groups. Actively engage in national, regional and international debates advocating for positive change for poor and marginalised people;

38 The ACT Alliance Founding Document 27 February 2009.

Our specific mandate and role as the ACT Alliance

5.

19


• Promote, under a shared family name, the visibility of the development work, humanitarian assistance and advocacy initiatives being undertaken by the alliances;

• Continually increase its effectiveness through capacity development and the sharing of knowledge, learning and experiences; and

• Work closely with other national, regional and international ecumenical, inter-faith and civil society organisations who share similar objectives.

The objectives outlined above, the ACT Alliance mission and vision, as well as the ACT Founding Document clearly state that the ACT Alliance aims to help the poor and destitute, protect and save lives where these are threatened through man-made or natural disasters, and support women and men, boys and girls and their communities worldwide.

5.3 Current status of ACT member climate change initiatives

Both Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) are viewed within the ACT Alliance as essential components of sustainable development where people are especially exposed to the effects of climate. There is general agreement among members that both themes produce similar interventions at the field level with many programmes incorporating CCA and DRR as part of their livelihoods approach. Risk reduction is considered both a humanitarian and development action based on local circumstances. CCA, however, is usually viewed as having stronger links to development. Members emphasise the importance of DRR as an ‘adaptation’ strategy.

There is a trend within ACT towards the integration of CCA as an integrated strategy that cuts across programmes. For instance, some members in Central Asia are developing a CCA approach, building on existing DRR initiatives, with the intention of integrating both CCA and DRR into livelihoods and local market development programmes. The work of members in Central America is more dominated by rapid-onset disasters with the focus much more on DRR comprising both advocacy and community development initiatives.

Other approaches to adaptation within member programmes include agricultural diversification (e.g. by introducing new salt-tolerant crops or more resistant varieties to help farmers adapt to changing growing conditions), renewable energy programmes, reforestation of mangroves along coastal zones, water supply and

20

watershed conservation. Some programmes include an advocacy component and civil society strengthening, including capacity development of local partners to participate in decision-making and to lobby elected officials on issues related to climate change and the environment, such as water scarcity and resource conservation.

Climate Change Mitigation within the ACT Alliance has seen some members committing themselves to assessing their greenhouse gas emissions and making every possible effort to reduce emissions at the level of the workplace, work-related travel and choice of projects being implemented. There are proposals from some ACT members that each member of ACT should go further, setting binding targets on their own emission reductions. Some members are ahead of others in this debate and no doubt discussion of these issues will grow within the alliance in the coming years, especially on the scope, timing and measurement of such binding targets.

ACT members are also involved in, and sometimes in the forefront of, public awareness-building campaigns and civil society alliances aimed at lowering carbon footprints and climate-friendly consumption patterns.39

39 One example of good practice in this regard was the joint effort of ACT members, through their membership of APRODEV, who worked in cooperation with the World Council of Churches on the successful Countdown to Copenhagen Campaign.

21


This document acknowledges that diversity of opinion exists among members on whether, when and how to engage in climate change programming. The principles outlined below are thus offered as a guide to ACT members to more effectively address climate change in development and humanitarian programming.

As justice is a core value of ACT, the central theme and overarching operative principle throughout our climate change work has been identified as:

Promote justice and rights for women, men and children affected by climate change.

No one generation or group of states has the right to exploit natural resources for their own greed or at the cost of future generations. As human beings we have a duty to manage our natural resources and the global environment in a sustainable manner so we do not jeopardize the lives of future generations. God has given the earth, nature and the environment to the whole of mankind.40

Principle 1: Integrate climate-related considerations into ACT member activities, ensuring that the rights of communities and crisis-affected populations are addressed and genuine partnerships created.

ACT is not advocating for the mandatory mainstreaming of climate change in multi-sectoral programming, recognising the capacity constraints of many of its members. That said, climate change does affect all people, everywhere, and thus, ACT members should aspire to the following minimum standards:

• Reflect internally on how their own activities may contribute to global warming and climate change, and develop an appropriate strategy to minimize their damage to the environment (carbon footprint)

• Identify the impact that climate change is currently having on the lives of poor and marginalized men and women and livelihoods of our communities by using rights-based criteria in our planning so that we can better understand who is at risk and how ACT should take action to protect them.

40 Norwegian Church Aid and Church of Sweden, 2007, “Understanding the Issue 1/2007 – Climate Change threatens the Fight Against Poverty”.

Guiding principles6.

22

• Plan for the effects that future climate change will have on different communities, taking into consideration the impact of different identities on climate change vulnerability, e.g. age, gender, ethnicity, and religion.

• Support interventions, such as adaptation (including Disaster Risk Reduction), mitigation, and emergency response, where possible that do not negatively impact on the human rights of vulnerable communities.

• Address climate change considerations in their strategic planning, as well as in all aspects of the project cycle.

• Build the capacity of vulnerable communities to better understand the risks of climate change, and to advocate and carry out actions to address it.

Principle 2: Promote and address ‘mitigation’ and ‘adaptation’ approaches, based on the concept of shared ecological space for all world inhabitants.

Adaptation and mitigation should have equal levels of importance, as stated in the Bali Action Plan, in order to comprehensively address the threat posed by climate change. Some actions serve dual purposes: reforestation, agricultural interventions aiming at increased soil carbon content or renewable energy, to mention but a few, fall both under mitigation and adaptation.

Adaptation: A participatory risk assessment must be the starting point in any adaptation initiative. It is an essential first step for identifying disaster prone areas, and the people and property most exposed to harm or damage. Risk must be assessed from a hazard perspective and a vulnerability perspective. Depending on the situation, a hazard assessment looks at global, regional, national or local-level threats and measures the frequency and multitude of past disasters. A vulnerability assessment focuses at the level of individual households. Vulnerability assessment covers exposure of a household to a hazard, its potential susceptibility when a disaster strikes and its resilience or capacity to cope with the harm and damage that a disaster brings.

As adaptation involves the management of risks posed by climate change, and taking action to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate change effects, ACT members should incorporate, where relevant, activities that help communities, women and men, adapt to climate change or climate-related vulnerabilities. Adaptation interventions involve a spectrum of assistance, from activities that focus on improving communities’ coping mechanisms, to activities

23


designed specifically with climate change in mind.41 These may include:

• Building response capacity. Activities in this group are those that build social and organisational abilities to address climate-related change, such as improved weather forecasting, risk mapping, improved planning processes and natural resource management, sustainable development and other critical areas. These activities should take into consideration the different needs and rights of the diverse climate-affected groups.

• Managing climate risk and addressing impacts. These may include activities that explicitly seek to reduce the impact of climate-related events on lives and livelihoods. These particularly include Disaster Risk Reduction programmes, including: building infrastructure that can withstand new extremes; finding sustainable ways of increasing agricultural productivity without further threatening already stressed ecosystems; and, finding more efficient ways of harvesting, using and recycling water.

• Promoting community-based sustainable livelihoods. It is likely that the foundations of many rural livelihoods and particularly poor farmers will be shaken by extreme climate manifestations. ACT members must understand the dynamics of poor people’s livelihoods, their existing vulnerabilities and those that are likely to be exacerbated by new hazards. Working with the resources and capacities that already exist, promote sustainable adaptation strategies that minimise vulnerabilities, and documenting and supporting locally-led analysis and solutions. Two crucial elements in ACT’s livelihood strategies should be: a) ecosystem management to better protect and utilise the ecology that supports livelihoods, ensuring communities can maintain traditional safety nets and improve and expand livelihood options to better cope with disruptive shocks; and, b) expanding a deeper local understanding of climate change among communities. This may require the development of tools to ensure a community-based understanding on the issues pertaining to climate change and to strengthen mechanisms for local resilience.

• Reinforce effective government adaptation strategies. Where possible, ACT members should reinforce positive adaptation strategies proposed by the in-

41 Adapted from McGray, Heather, Hammill, Anne, and Bradley, Rob, Weathering the Storm: Options for Framing Adaptation and Development, World Resources Institute, 2007.

24

country government, supporting communities to be involved in discussions with local government and enabling them to influence local policies and decisions that will affect their lives and livelihoods.

Mitigation: Mitigation in the context of climate change refers to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, in order to uphold the targets stated by the IPCC, which are to stop temperatures from increasing by more than 2C (3.6F). This requires a radical reduction of emissions, down to a level of 80% of the 1990 benchmark. Achieving this target will imply a significant reduction in energy and resource use, requiring a major behavioural change in the way we work. ACT members can:

• Support the development of alternative energy sources to help tackle climate change. Members should promote innovation in their development work and the demand for new technologies, extending access to affordable energy while cutting emissions. Incorporating alternate energy sources into livelihood systems wherever possible would reduce household costs in the long term.

• Support development programmes that address deforestation and land-use change – currently the source of about 20 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions.42 Programmes must balance the benefits of climate change mitigation, with the realisation that forests are the homes and basis of livelihoods for many poor, as well as a source of biodiversity.

• Reduce organisational and individual carbon footprint. All ACT members should evaluate their greenhouse gas emissions, at the project and organisational level, and commit themselves to doing everything possible to reduce such emissions to a level that is environmentally safe and socially fair to all of the world’s citizens. Such commitments should, where possible, include mechanisms to measure existing greenhouse gas emissions and to progressively reduce the level of emissions annually. This paper noted earlier that a sustainable carbon dioxide footprint level was two tonnes, per person, per year. ACT members should encourage their staff across the globe to take actions to reduce their individual contributions to global warming. For more details see Annex 3: Practical ways of Reducing Carbon Footprint

42 UNDP, Human Development Report 2007/2008, “Avoiding dangerous climate change: Strategies for mitigation.

25


Principle 3: Develop ACT member capacities to effectively address the challenges of global climate change.

ACT members involved in the implementation of humanitarian, emergency or development work should be aware of global facts and trends around climate change, climate-related vulnerabilities in the countries or regions where they work, and national policies that address these, such as National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs). They should also be aware of specific climate-related and Disaster Risk Reduction policies and/or programmes of other ACT members and churches in the countries in which they work.

• ACT provides a guide in the form of a compilation of a good practices in climate change and climate-related projects, as well as additional toolkits in 2010 which may include: Taking stock of our carbon footprint; Guidelines on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Risk Reduction; Risk assessment and risk management, incorporating elements of environmental, climate change adaptation and disaster risk assessment; as well as a bibliography of resources, for use by ACT members.

• ACT will support organisational capacity development initiatives43 related to climate change and disaster risk reduction as needs are identified by members who have undergone ACT’s organisational capacity assessment.

• ACT will establish a pool of resource persons in 2010 that are willing to share their experience and knowledge of climate change and climate-related programming with ACT members, and will disseminate this list to members.

• ACT members working in the field are encouraged to develop linkages with local governmental and non-governmental agencies working on climate-related Disaster Risk Reduction and adaptation programmes, in order to further develop their understanding of the local context and ensure higher effectiveness of their own activities.

• ACT will integrate gender sensitive Climate Change Adaptation in all project and programme areas, to the extent practical, and in the revised ACT Appeal Proposal and Reporting Formats.

43 ACT has a Capacity Development Initiative (CDI) to support the organizational capacity assessment of ACT members, and addressing capacity gaps.

26

Principle 4: Adjust programme planning and management in accordance with ACT policies and principles on climate change.

ACT members, in preventing, preparing for, and responding to climate-related events, should undertake an in-depth situation analysis, assessing the role climate change might play in causing, influencing, or exacerbating disasters. It must also address the likelihood of similar events occurring in the future, so that responses can address not just immediate needs, but underlying causes, in a way that may prevent or mitigate similar situations in the future. As part of such initial assessments, ACT members should identify existing local capacities to respond, and build on these. The following issues must be considered during all stages of planning and management in the context of addressing climate change:

• Knowing who is most vulnerable. Women, men, girls and boys will experience climate change differently. Climate change programming should follow guidelines already included in the ACT Gender Policy Principles, stating that women and men are affected differently due to socio-economic injustice and gender roles. Climate change and climate-related humanitarian disasters are likely to have a disproportionate impact on women as well as vulnerable groups such as older adults, people with disabilities, children, among others. These groups may be physiologically more vulnerable, and less able to protect themselves in the events of emergencies and in the longer term, given their often lower economic competitiveness, lack of property rights and lower level of education. Thus, ACT members should pay attention to the particular needs of these groups in any response.

• Understanding the special circumstances of refugees, IDPs and migrants. There is growing evidence that climate change and the increasing frequency and magnitude of droughts, floods, and cyclones are contributing to mass displacements of people. In some cases, people may flee from a climate-related disaster across borders. In other cases, they may migrate within their own country, as internally displaced persons (IDPs). The ongoing phenomenon of rural-to-urban migration also places increased pressures on the capacity of cities to cope, due to settlement on river banks, slopes, etc. In responding to climate-related events, ACT members should pay attention to whether they have, or are likely to, provoke long-term human displacement, and to consider the particular needs of refugees, IDPs or migrants in their response.

27


• Identifying marginalised communities. Climate change will adversely affect the most excluded communities and indigenous groups, who often have a total reliance on natural resources or are marginalised in urban areas, and who, despite their inherent resilience, may lack the capacity to adapt to rapid changes in their environment. Therefore ACT members should pay close attention to the particular needs of these communities.

• Assessing the socio-economic context. Less-well-off women and men will suffer most because they are often forced to live in disaster-prone areas, and they have the least resources to cope with the effects of climate change. They are the most vulnerable. Therefore, ACT members should always seek to prioritize programmes that address the needs of the poorest segments of society.

• Proactively involving communities. Participatory involvement must be promoted in the appraisal, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases. Project design should be based on widespread consultation with and involvement of the intended participants. Community members have a different understanding of climate cycles and hydro-meteorological events than most outsiders, and thus their involvement in assessing needs, designing interventions, implementing, monitoring and evaluating them, is critical and is their right. Women, men, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities within the same communities often have different perspectives and thus should be consulted and actively involved in any community level analysis and decisions that affect their lives.

• Understanding and respecting local knowledge and traditional practices. Many cultures have developed their own ways of predicting climate-related events, and their own mechanisms to cope with climate-related events. ACT members should seek to understand and honour these traditions and incorporate those, where appropriate, into the project design, while also introducing Western scientific perspectives. Doing so helps ensure both the cultural acceptance and sustainability of the project.

Ensuring access to funding ACT members should continue to explore existing and potential funding channels and mechanisms for humanitarian initiatives. Members should also seek to influence donor agencies to designate (additional) resources to climate change adaptation and mitigation. It is important that such resources are provided on top of existing development assistance.

28

Principle 5: Adopt a twin-track approach to advocacy,44 promoting the integration of climate change responses in sub-national, national, and regional policies and programmes, while advocating for policy change at the global level.

The Kyoto Protocol is far from being successfully implemented. And because the Copenhagen Accord was not adopted by the Conference of Parties (COP) in Copenhagen, a number of implementation procedures were not adopted either. In particular, the operationalisation of the Green Climate Fund remains unclear, among other issues. Opportunities for engaging in national, regional and global advocacy remain as the UNFCCC negotiation texts are still on the table and will be the official basis for UNFCCC negotiations throughout 2010.

ACT supports a twin-track approach to advocacy on climate change. It recognises that concrete actions on the ground to address the causes and impacts of climate change need to be complemented with advocacy action towards local and national governments, regional entities as well as towards the international community. On the one hand, ACT members are encouraged to advocate for policy change at the level of their own governments (national and sub-national) on operational priorities and required investments in climate change adaptation and mitigation. On the other hand, learning from ‘on-the-ground’ experience as well as scientific evidence should be basis of any global Alliance-wide advocacy messaging.

ACT sees climate change advocacy as an inclusive and participatory activity working ‘with’ rather than ‘for’ communities, using a rights-based approach. ACT members working in community adaptation initiatives should provide information and knowledge in a form that is accessible and useful to local decision-makers, for the purpose of joint learning. ACT encourages its members to put the communities and the people most likely to be affected by extreme changes in climate at the heart of all national and regional advocacy efforts. It also asks members not to loose sight of the ‘human face’ in it global advocacy efforts. ACT supports the capacity strengthening of ACT members and partners on undertaking their own advocacy issues.

44 The ACT Alliance has adopted the Ecumenical definition of advocacy, namely “action on political, economic, cultural and social issues by churches and their members, church-related agencies and other organisations which aims to influence policies and practices of those in positions of power and influence in order to bring about a more just, peaceful and sustainable world”, (ACT Alliance Advocacy Policy 2008)

29


ACT seeks to have common messaging on climate change advocacy, and supports close coordination and cooperation with the World Council of Churches Climate Programme and the APRODEV45 climate change group on messaging.

45 APRODEV is the association of 17 development and humanitarian aid organisations in Europe, which work closely together with the World Council of Churches. APRODEV agencies are Brot für Alle, Brot für die Welt, Christian Aid, Church of Sweden, CIMADE, DanChurchAid, Diakonia, EAEZ, EED, FinnChurchAid, HEKS/EPER, Hungarian Interchurch Aid, ICCO, Icelandic C hurch Aid, Kerk in Actie, Norwegian Church Aid and Solidarité Protestante. The World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation are observers. Source: http://www.aprodev.net/main/index.htm

Annexes 30

Annex 1: Definition of key climate change-related terms

Adaptation: The IPCC defines adaptation as the “adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.” Climate change adaptation involves taking action to minimize the effects of global warming, in contrast to mitigation, which involves action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the extent of global warming. Examples of adaptation strategies might include farmers planting drought-resistant crops or adopting new techniques for water conservation.

Climate Change: In simple terms, climate change is any long-term significant change in the average state of weather (e.g. temperature, precipitation, wind patterns) of a region or the earth as a whole. While these changes can be caused by dynamic natural processes such as volcanic action or variations in sunlight activity, there is ample scientific evidence that human activity is the main reason for the current rapid change in the world’s climate. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for example, analyses the mean and variability of quantities of temperature, precipitation, and wind over a period of 30 years to determine change.

Carbon Footprint: A measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide (CO2).46

Disaster Risk Reduction: A term used for initiatives aimed at preventing or minimizing the effects of disasters.

Ecological debt: This refers to the consumption of resources from within an ecosystem that exceeds the system’s regenerative capacity, in particular, non-renewable resources.

Ecosystem: A natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the physical factors of the environment.

Global warming: “Global warming refers to an average increase in the Earth’s temperature, which in turn causes changes in climate. A warmer Earth may lead to changes in rainfall patterns, a rise in sea level, and a wide range of impacts on plants, wildlife, and humans. When scientists talk about the issue of climate change, their concern is about global warming caused by human activities.”47

Greenhouse gases: Gases -- such as water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (NOx), and methane (CH4) -- in the atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation.

46 www.carbonfootprint.com.47 Epa.gov/climatechange.

Annexes

Annexes 31


Atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases is essential to maintaining the current temperature of the earth. Without them, this planet would be too cold to inhabit. However, greenhouse gases are also known to be the primary cause of global warming.

Greenhouse effect: The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring phenomenon. It allows the Earth to stay warm enough for life to survive. “While the greenhouse effect is an essential environmental prerequisite for life on Earth…problems begin when human activities distort and accelerate the natural process by creating more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than are necessary to warm the planet to an ideal temperature.”48 Examples of human activity that contribute to the increase in the greenhouse effect are the burning of coal, oil, natural gas, and deforestation.

Hyogo Framework for Action: An international framework for action towards disaster risk reduction adopted by 168 governments at the World Conference of Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan in 2005 and also by the United Nations General Assembly. The official title is “Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.”

IPCC: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established to provide the decision-makers and others interested in climate change with an objective source of information about climate change. It is a scientific intergovernmental body set up by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988. Its constituency is made up of governments and scientists from around the world.49

Kyoto Protocol: An international and legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, entered into force on February 16, 2005. It is a protocol to the UNFCC.

Mainstreaming: In the context of climate change, mainstreaming demands that activities related to humanitarian or development projects or programmes do not increase the vulnerability of women and men and enhance their adaptive capacity to cope with the manifestations of climate change.

Mitigation: Actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the increase in global warming, in contrast to adaptation, which refers to actions that seek to minimize the effects of global warming. Examples of mitigation activities might include the substitution of fuel-burning technologies with renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind or water.

48 Environment.about.com/od/globalwarming/a/greenhouse.htm.49 www,ipcc.ch/about/index.htm.

Annexes 32

National Adaptation Programme for Action (NAPA): A process, under the UNFCCC, for Least Developed Countries to identify priority activities in key sectors that respond to their urgent and immediate needs to adapt to climate change. The benefit of these documents: they are a strategy on climate change adaptation for a least developed country and can be used as reference material when planning actions.

UNFCCC: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty adopted at the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992. The treaty is intended to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system.

Vulnerability: The conditions determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or processes, which increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards.50 In global warming, vulnerability is the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes.51

50 UN/ISDR. Geneva 2004.51 UNFCCC.

Annexes 33


Annex 2: Key reference documents Advocacy

Brot fuer die Welt & Germanwatch. 2008, “Making the Adaptation Fund Work for the Most Vulnerable People”

Christian Aid 2008, Countdown to Copenhagen: the race for climate justice in the UNFCCC talks (2008) Christian Aid 2008, ‘Setting the bar high at Poznan: Christian Aid’s vision for urgent and equitable global action on climate change’

Biofuels Aprodev. 2008, “Statement on Targets and Sustainability Standards for Agrofuels”IUCN. (The World Conservation Union), 2007, Climate Change Briefing - ‘Biofuels, nature and people:

Implications for environment and livelihoods’, December 2007IIED & FAO. 2008, ‘Fuelling exclusion? The biofuels boom and poor people’s access to land’, Lorenzo

Cotula, Nat Dyer & Sonja Vermeulen

Food Security & Poverty Reduction Brot fuer die Welt, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe & Germanwatch. 2008, “Climate Change, Food Security

and the Right to Adequate Food”Ching. L. Sustainable Agriculture: Meeting Food Security Needs, Addressing Climate Change Challenges

by Lim Li Ching, Senior Fellow at the Oakland InstituteFAO. 2007, Climate change and food security: a framework document, Interdepartmental Working Group

on Climate Change, Rome 2007 FAO. 2006. Livestock’s long shadow: Environment issues and options. by Steinfeld et al..The Livestock,

Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative. Rome.Norwegian Church Aid and Church of Sweden, 2007, “Understanding the Issue 1/2007 – Climate Change

threatens the Fight Against Poverty”

Human RightsAprodev Joint Position Paper, “Rights-based-development from a faith-based perspective”, June 2008International Council on Human Rights Policy, 2008 “Climate Change and Human Rights – A Rough

Guide”OHCHR, 2009, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the

relationship between climate change and human rights, A/HRC/10/61, 15 January 2009

Policy and guidelinesDan Church Aid Research Paper, “Climate Change, Hunger and Poverty”, September 2008.Trocaire 2008, ‘Tackling Climate Injustice: Towards and equitable response to a global’, Policy Report

March 2008Oxfam 2008, Viet Nam: Climate Change, Adaptation and Poor People

Scientific papers IPCC 2007, Fourth Assessment Report, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Risk mapping CARE & Maplecroft 2008, ‘Humanitarian implications of climate change: Mapping emerging trends and

risk hotspots’.

Sample ToolkitsTomorrow England, 2008, A Climate Change Toolkit: ‘Tomorrow’s England - Our changing climate, our

changing lives’, funded by Defra www.defra.gov.uk

Useful reference websites Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, http://www.ipcc.ch

World Meteorological Office, http://www.wmo.ch

Annexes 34

Annex 3: Practical ways to reduce carbon footprint

Background This guidance note presents some ideas on ways that ACT members and their partners may reduce their carbon footprint—that is, the amount of carbon dioxide and equivalent greenhouse gases that they emit through their activities—and thus help reduce, even on a very small scale, their contribution to global warming and climate change. It complements the Guiding Principles on Climate Change for the ACT Alliance, and the ACT publication on good practices in climate change programming, “Tackling Climate Change: Communities Making a Difference”.

This note is meant to provide some simple examples of actions that can be taken by ACT members, their staff and partners, at the office or in programs. It is not meant to provide detailed guidance or “how to” instructions for each of the proposed actions; nor is it intended to help agencies calculate the actual amount of carbon reduced. Furthermore, it is not an exhaustive list of steps. ACT members interested in learning more about the actions listed here are encouraged to make use of the many resources that are available for free on the Internet, or through sharing best practices and information with other organisations in their ACT forum or other consortia.

Reasons to cut carbon There is growing evidence that human activities are causing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide. By taking action on reducing carbon emissions ACT members and their employees not only help reduce the ACT contribution to global warming, they can save energy, reduce overall costs, and demonstrate leadership and innovation in the humanitarian and development sector.

What to do? Reduce, Reuse, RecycleThe easiest way for individuals, organizations, or communities to reduce their carbon footprint is to practice the three “Rs”:

• Reduce consumption—not just of energy (electricity), but of water and all natural resources and consumer goods;

• Reuse materials as long as they function, or find new uses for them, before replacing them;

• Recycle materials once their useful life has been exhausted.

These three “Rs” can serve as a useful starting point for conversations within families, communities, and agencies (including ACT members) about what changes they can make in daily, weekly or monthly activities or behaviors, to help reduce their contributions to global warming. Many small steps by individuals can lead, collectively,

Annexes 35


to significant achievements in mitigating the negative effects of climate change over time.Below are some illustrations of how ACT members can put the three “R”s into practice in their work, at home, or in the design of projects they support.

Reduce Energy Usage

1. Turn off lights, appliances, and computers when not in use. If you’re not going to use them for several hours or longer, consider unplugging computers and appliances from the wall socket, which will save even more energy.

2. Replace incandescent light bulbs with long-lasting, low-energy, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), if available. CFLs use sixty percent less energy than a regular bulb. Switching one incandescent light bulb to a CFL can save up to 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

3. If you have a heating or cooling system in your office, turn the thermostat down by 1-2 degrees in cold weather, and up by 1-2 degrees in hot weather.

4. When replacing appliances or buying new ones, look for brands that use less power and are energy-efficient.

5. Install automatic timers on lights that will automatically turn off after a certain period of time. Or install motion-sensors for lighting, so lights will only go on when there are people in a room, and will automatically go off when people leave.

6. Support renewable energy technologies. • Install solar panels to generate electricity or heat water for offices. • Build small hydropower stations in communities with abundant sources of water

power, to generate electricity for domestic use.• Build biodigesters to convert animal or human waste into gas for cooking or power

generation.

Reduce Water Consumption

1. Use less water at home and at the office. • At home, take shorter showers. • Install low-flush toilets, or simply place a brick or a bottle of water or sand into the

back of a toilet tank, to save water when flushing.• Use less hot water. Wash clothes in cold water instead of hot.

2. Support water conservation measures in programming:• In agricultural projects, consider drip irrigation when feasible, as opposed to

sprinkle irrigation.

Annexes 36

• Protect water sources from evaporation.• Consider rainwater harvesting, to collect rainwater from roofs and other

flat surfaces, which can be channeled from gutters into a rainwater storage tank.

• Support watershed management initiatives that protect rivers, springs, and other water sources and the vegetation around them.

• Reuse “grey water”—the water left over from bathing or washing dishes or clothes—to flush toilets or to water plants.

Reduce transportation

1. Walk, bicycle, or take public transportation whenever possible instead of using cars.

2. Buy local products to the extent possible. Products that have to be shipped long distances or imported from abroad require transportation by ship, plane, train, or truck, all of which generate considerable greenhouse gases. By buying locally, you can reduce transportation emissions, while also supporting local economies.

3. Reduce international travel. If you need to hire consultants or other experts, try to find local ones. Reduce the number of flights you take by making increased use of cheaper and more carbon-friendly telecommunications technologies.

Reduce the loss of trees

1. Use less paper.• Print on both sides of a page.• Buy recycled paper.

2. Plant trees.• Plant trees around your home or office. This can help provide shade and

reduce the need to use air-conditioning to cool the space.• Support reforestation projects as part of agro-forestry or climate change

adaptation programs. Reforestation not only helps reduce the rate of global warming and offset carbon, but if properly managed, can provide other environmental, social and economic benefits to communities as well.

Annexes 37


Reuse materials

1. Think twice before replacing or throwing away an item. Many times we replace an item simply because it is old, and not necessarily because it doesn’t work. Ask yourself if it can be still be used in some way, or by someone else, before getting rid of it or buying a new one.

2. Reuse “grey water” (see the water section above).3. Find creative ways to reuse old items, if they can’t be recycled.

• For example, in one community in Peru, farmers make use of used, but sterilized, syringes from the local health clinic as sprinkler heads for gravity-flow irrigation systems. By doing so, they reduce costs, reduce the need to buy and transport from long distances manufactured sprinklers, and reduce, even if only in a small way, the amount of solid waste that goes into landfills.

Recycle

1. If you live in a community that offers recycling services, make sure to recycle acceptable materials. Glass, aluminium, certain plastics, paper and cardboard are recyclable, for example. The benefits of recycling are clear. For example, making aluminium cans from old ones uses one twelfth of the energy to make them from raw materials. Recycling one tonne of glass saves 315 kilograms of carbon dioxide, when taking into account processing and transportation; and making bags from recycled polythene (plastic) requires one third the sulphur dioxide and half the nitrous dioxide than making them from raw materials.52

• Different communities may have different restrictions on what can be recycled, so make sure you check with local authorities.

• Provide large, clearly marked containers where people can deposit recyclable materials.

• Post easy, clear information about how to recycle in areas where people will see it.

• Compost garden and kitchen waste. Leaves, grass cuttings, and kitchen waste such as raw fruits and vegetables, can be used to make compost, which in turn is used to fertilize soil and increase the productivity of crops. By using compost, you can reduce the need for chemical fertilizers (the production of which is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions), reduce the burden on landfills, and reduce the frequency of trash removal.

52 www.carbonfootprint.com/athome.html

Annexes 38

Selected websites• www.carbonfootprint.com/athome.html• www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/whatyoucando• green.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_reduce_your_carbon_footprint• www.whatsmycarbonfootprint.com/reduce_office.htm• www.independent.co.uk/.../ten-ways-to-cut-your-carbon-footprint-at-

work-459967.html

Annexes 39


guiding principles on climate change - act...

Documents