Intl Svcs Climate Change Paper 05-15-08

American Red Cross International Services May 15, 2008 Preparing Communities for Climate Change by Expanding Support for International Disaster Risk Reduction As climate change heightens our world’s vulnerability to natural hazards, the work of the American Red Cross in helping communities at home and abroad prepare for and respond to disasters becomes even more urgent. While experts work to address the causes of climate change, the American Red Cross has expanded its efforts to help communities reduce their vulnerability to its impacts, including new or intensified weather-related risks. Governments and scientists agree that climate change is resulting in more intense and frequent weather events and erratic weather patterns. The increasing number of disasters—such as severe floods, droughts, typhoons, hurricanes and heat waves—is complicating the ability of communities to anticipate and recover from them.1 Not surprisingly, the world’s poor are disproportionately vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, with fewer resources to prepare for or recuperate from weather-related disasters.2 They are also increasingly likely to live in hazard-prone locations, such as makeshift houses on unstable hillsides or flood plains. Climate change has not only resulted in a rising number of natural hazards, but also produced stresses on water supplies, agricultural production and ecosystems.3 Communities are increasingly competing for scarce resources, creating additional tensions and the potential for conflict. Taken together, the effects of climate change erode people’s traditional safety nets and diminish the ability of households to survive and recover from disasters. The American Red Cross is intensifying and expanding its support for international disaster risk reduction programs through Red Cross and Red Crescent partners. The International Services department of the American Red Cross aims to strengthen household resiliency and build the capacity of communities around the world to better anticipate, mitigate, prepare for and respond to disasters. Examples of American Red Cross international disaster risk reduction programs include the following:

1

Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (2007). The IPCC report reflects consensus among governments and scientists, including the U.S. Government. 2 IPCC 2007 Working Group II, Summary for Policymakers. 3 United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre The Red Cross/Red Crescent Centre on Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness (Climate Centre), located in The Hague, Netherlands, is a forum for dialogue and creative thinking within humanitarian and development circles. Support from the American Red Cross has helped the Climate Centre to conduct research, disseminate information, strengthen support networks and facilitate communication among stakeholders, as well as develop guidance for practical programming. For example, the Climate Centre has supported the Indonesian Red Cross Society in preparing communities to better understand and adapt to a wet season that will probably get wetter; a dry season that is likely to become drier; and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts that are expected to multiply. Community-Based Early Warning Systems Many communities around the world have difficulty accessing, translating, and acting upon technical information—such as global information system data—that would give people more time to get out of harm’s way. To overcome this challenge, the American Red Cross is working to build and replicate low-cost but high-impact community-level early warning systems. For example, with help from the American Red Cross, the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society quickly deployed nearly 40,000 volunteers with bicycles and blow horns to warn thousands of people to evacuate prior to Cyclone Sidr in November 2007. First Responder Training Programs Through its international programs, the American Red Cross invests in community-based training, such as first aid and rapid relief. This training helps to equip first responders with skills to identify hazards and vulnerabilities and to assess the effectiveness of local capacities for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Programs emphasize the training-of-trainers to build lasting local response capacities and have greater reach. Disaster Preparedness Education Materials Drawing on its successful experience in integrating disaster preparedness into U.S.-based education curricula, the American Red Cross is replicating and adapting educational materials, such as the Masters of Disasters toolkit, for Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in other countries. International Disaster Response Capacity The American Red Cross is building its programs and institutional capacities to respond to an increasing number of small- and medium-sized international disasters, while at the same time adequately preparing for large-scale disasters such as the Asian Tsunami of December 2004. The American Red Cross is expanding its roster of highly-skilled professionals, who are available for deployment on international disaster response teams. It is also expanding and improving its training courses on the work of its Relief Emergency Response Unit and a new IT & Telecommunications Emergency Response Unit. *************** This holistic approach to international disaster risk reduction requires an understanding of the impacts of climate change. Through increased partnerships and ongoing investments, the American Red Cross will expand its efforts to reduce the risks that communities face from increasing weather-related disasters worldwide.