Climate Change and Sustainable Development
By: Vivian Ngonzi Butamanya, HR Officer
Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA)
Makerere
University Centre for Climate Change Research and Innovations (MUCCRI) convened
a short course that was attended between 20 – 25 June 2016 and I was privileged
to be a part of this training. The initiative was in response to increasing
demand for increasing climate change awareness and building a knowledge base to
tackle climate change among practitioners in government, academia, researchers,
civil society and private sector.
Climate
change is one of major human development challenges of the 21st century. The
IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC AR5) observes that since the mid-19th
Century, world average temperatures have increased by about one degree
(0.850C), and continue to rise, as a result of increased Greenhouse gas (GhG)
emissions from human activities.
While
the cause of climate is global through activities that increase GhG emissions,
it will lead to different impacts in different countries and regions depending
on different economic and environmental condition, and level of vulnerability
and ability to cope with the impacts. The conclusion therefore is that since
many people in developing countries are highly dependent on natural resources,
they are highly vulnerable to the effects of a changing climate. Therefore,
climate change will inevitably affect the development prospects of many
developing countries, and the attainment of sustainable development.
There
is therefore an urgent need for local and global action through two parallel
tracks: adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation because some effects of the
climate changes can no longer be avoided and solutions such as new agricultural
techniques and adequate infrastructure need to be identified. Mitigation
because we need to reduce emission of GhG to reduce the magnitude of the
changes.
Addressing
climate change in the development context not only has the potential to
increase climate resilience and reduce poverty but will also contribute to the
achievement of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The training
basically provided an introduction to climate change issues in the context of
sustainable development. This learning programme is believed not turn
participants into climate change experts; but rather provide an informed platform
for engaging in concrete activities in the participants’ organizations and
jobs. The programme also introduced common and individual responsibilities and
opportunities, and presented tools and mechanisms for adaptation and mitigation
actions at organizational and individual level. Through the training, focus was
drawn to the understanding of the relationships between climate change and
development and the need and the how to integrate climate change response
actions in the development agenda.
Important
to the women’s agenda and in relation to SDG 5, something that caught my
attention was the session on ‘Addressing gender in climate change adaptation
and mitigation’. The injustice of climate change is clear, people living in
poverty all over the world; who have
done the least to contribute to greenhouse gas emissions that trigger global
warming, these are worst affected by climate change impacts.
Gender
inequality is a long-standing and pervasive social injustice. We cannot deliver
sustainable development without tackling climate change, and we cannot tackle
climate change without tackling the root causes of poverty which is gender
inequality. It will only worsen if the injustices of climate change and gender
inequality are not tackled together, and fast.
Moving
forward, there’s need for activation of participatory bottom up planning and
ensuring Climate change impacts are localized. It’s also critical that Gender
analysis and vulnerability assessment be part of development planning tools and
last but not least the need for measuring impact and reviews - M&E
framework.
AKina
Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) is one of the four partner institutes of the
African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run
by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Sub Saharan Africa-
Ethiopia Office.
For more on IIE , ACE or AMwA please follow the links below.
www.iie.org/
www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership,
