The human cost of climate change

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The human cost of climate change
NGOs meeting the challenge in Vietnam
October 29th Fiona Percy NGO CCWG
Coordinator CARE International fpercy_at_care.org.vn
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Poor people in Vietnam suffer most from the
impact of climate change.
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What can we do?

• We have to avoid the unmanageable and manage
  the unavoidable.
• (John Schellnhuber)?

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• Embarking on a process of ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
  to adapt NGOs own policies and procedures to the
  realities of climate change

NGOs address this through

• ADVOCATING for just policies to mitigate climate
  change and support poor communities adaptation
  efforts

• MITIGATING climate change through
  multiple-benefit projects that also support
  adaptation activities.

• Helping especially poor, vulnerable communities
  ADAPT to climate change.

Many NGOs already have the experiences, skills
and relationships needed to make a difference.
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In CC responses, NGOs

• Pilot innovative approaches
• Stress participatory, community based systems
• Mobilise peoples participation, build their
  capacity to help themselves
• Integrate gender, rights, equity issues
• Link disaster risk reduction, environmental
  protection and development projects
• Focus on local ownership and sustainable results
• Bring evidence from grass roots to the policy
  dialogue and the media
• Transfer effective technologies

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Adaptation to chronic long term changes
Community-based adaptation (CBA)?
.. is about helping communities adjust to new
conditions, eg. higher temperatures, sea-level
rise, saline intrusions, subsiding water tables,
more or less rainfall, less predictable seasons.

• Participatory Watershed project, Ba Thuoc
  District
• Community based future landscape planning
• Sloping land techniques (SALT)?
• Afforestation
• Diversification

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Adaptation to increased risks of disaster
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)?
.. is about helping communities reduce
vulnerability to the increased risks posed by
hazards like typhoons, droughts and sudden floods
in the face of climate change.

• CBDRM project Binh Dinh
• - Improve early warning systems
• - Training in participatory disaster risk
  management planning.
• - Commune disaster prevention, mitigation and
  emergency response master plans

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Multiple benefit projects Combining adaptation,
DRR, mitigation and development goals.

• Mangroves project Hau Loc Dist
• Storm protection
• Sustainable livelihoods for poor and landless
  people
• High Carbon storage and other environmental
  benefits
• Community confidence and management
• - Environmental and CC awareness raising and
  education

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NGO Climate Change Working Group (CCWG)?
The CCWG Goal Reducing the vulnerability of
poor people in Vietnam to the impacts of CC
through
The CCWG Goal Reducing the vulnerability of
poor people in Vietnam to the impacts of CC
through

• Coordinated NGO advocacy and capacity building
  for responses that are environmentally and
  economically sustainable and socially just.

Coordinated NGO advocacy and capacity building
for responses that are environmentally and
economically sustainable and socially just.
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NGO CCWG why?

• to learn about what others are doing in response
  to Climate change
• to access and share information
• to coordinate interaction with other actors
• to share contacts, resources, events, capacity
• to have a representative voice in policy making
  and other CC fora

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CCWG Objectives and actions

• 1. Coordination among NGOs to maximize impact and
  minimize overlap
• 160 members from INGOs, VNGOs, research
  institutes, carbon investors and interested
  others
• Regular meetings and events provide forums for
  INGOs and Vietnamese NGOs to interact
• CC activities are publicized with WB help.
• Resources are shared through Web site and mailing
  list www.ngocentre.org.vn/node/5457
• Information sharing, raising awareness through
  meetings, events, links to mass media

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CCWG Objectives and actions

• 2. Advocacy Dialogue between NGOs and policy
  makers to coordinate views and action on climate
  change response and policy.
• NGO joint statements in the donor/government
  dialogue meetings.
• Coordinated comments and inputs to the NTP drafts
  with donors and government.
• Participation and contributions in policy
  formulation, action planning and media workshops.
  
• Design and facilitation of MARD OCCA action plan
  provincial consultation workshops.
• Participation in civil society REDD meeting
  (Ghana) and climate justice conference (Bangkok).
  
• Participation with mass media to raise
  awareness and increase capacity of journalists

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NGO CCWG messages

• Support to Community-based adaptation should
  start now
• User friendly information informed by science and
  local knowledge is needed at all levels.
• Civil society (community groups, mass
  organizations and NGOs) is able to mobilise large
  numbers of vulnerable people for adaptation and
  local level mitigation.
• Climate change mitigation options can be small
  scale, community-based and provide multiple
  benefits.
• Forest dependent populations should receive fair
  benefits from carbon financing.
• Capacity is needed for action at the sub-national
  level

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CCWG Objectives and actions

• 3. Capacity Building
• help NGOs in Vietnam access CC information,
  training activities and funding opportunities
• support NGO climate change activities and civil
  society networking by
• Creating opportunities to share experiences in CC
  and disaster relief
• Assessing capacity needs
• Training on basic impacts, community based
  adaptation, REDD, carbon footprints
• Developing a communication strategy

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Working together

• Climate change impacts are here now.
• Projections of worse to come are real.

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Working together

• CC is not just about the environment. It is a
  serious and urgent food security issue, a water,
  health, social, economic and political stability
  issue ...

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Working together

• Vietnam has a unique opportunity to lead the
  world.
• By sensible adjustments to its growth path,
  responding to climate change now, Vietnam can
• protect its citizens against inevitable impacts
  and
• build a sound 21st century economy based on low
  carbon technology and sustainable clean
  development

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Thank you