WHY ADAPT?

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WHY ADAPT?
CPHA Conference, Halifax. Monday,
June 2, 2008

• A Critical Analysis of Climate Change Adaptation
  Options for Public Health in Canada

Mark Pajot, Masters in Environmental Studies at
York U.
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It is precisely in periods of crisis that the
relationship between the parts and the whole
appears most clearly. Antonio Gramsci, 1954
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Agenda
Why Adapt? A Critical Analysis of Climate Change
Adaptation Options For Public Health in Canada.

• WHY ADAPT?
• Brief snapshot of the climate crisis.
• HOW DO WE ADAPT?
• Climate change adaptation defined
• Examining the current bias towards the risk
  management model of adaptation
• Expanding the role of adaptation to reduce
  vulnerabilities not just respond to impacts.

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Snapshot of the Climate Crisis
Why Adapt? A Critical Analysis of Climate Change
Adaptation Options For Public Health in Canada.
Warming of the climate system is
unequivocal. (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, 2007a)

• Arguably the biggest threat to public health in
  Canada this century
• Health impacts cause or are caused by

Direct effects¹ Extreme heat / cold Extreme weather (natural hazards/emergencies) Increased flooding Reduced air quality Indirect effects¹ West nile virus Lyme disease Food contamination Drinking / Beach water contamination Ultraviolet radiation. Asthma / Allergies Increased rates of poverty / food security² Mental Health³ Catastrophic impacts 4 Rapid sea level rise Ocean fisheries collapse Rapid methane release
¹ NRCan (2007) Canadian National Assessment. ²
Stern,(2006) Homer-Dixon (2007) ³ Health Canada
(2005) 4 UNEP (2007) In Dead Water. IPCC Fourth
Assessment Report, (2007)
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Snapshot of the Climate Crisis
Source http//www.stopglobalwarming.com.au/images
/future_forecasts/global_warming_carbon_dioxide_co
ncentration.jpg
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Snapshot of the Climate Crisis
Why Adapt? A Critical Analysis of Climate Change
Adaptation Options For Public Health in Canada.
New data (post IPCC, 2007) lowers the dangerous
threshold here (Hansen, 2007)
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Snapshot of the Climate Crisis

• Vulnerable populations are most effected
• 2003 heat wave in Europe, seniors hardest hit.
• Air quality impacts on the poor and racial
  minorities.
• .

• Why the injustice?
• Solutions (like mitigation efforts) must be
  compatible with economic growth.
• - Article 2 of the UNFCCC notes that
  stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in
  the atmosphere should be achieved in a way that
  should enable economic development to proceed in
  a sustainable manner.

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WHY ADAPT?

• Because at this point mitigation efforts to
  reduce carbon causing global warming are failing
• We are witnessing devastating impacts now,
  especially on vulnerable populations.
• So we have no other choice

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HOW DO WE ADAPT?
Adaptation will be necessary to address impacts
resulting from warming which is already
unavoidable due to past emissions (IPCC,
2007a) The United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (2007) defines adaptation as a
process through which societies make themselves
better able to cope with an uncertain future.

• The IPCC propose three types of adaptation
• anticipatory,
• autonomous and,
• planned
• Much focus is on planned adaptation (Pittock and
  Jones, 2000, Burton, 2006)
• Adaptation that is the result of a deliberate
  policy decision, based on an
• awareness that conditions have changed or are
  about to change and
• that action is required to return to, maintain,
  or achieve a desired state.

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HOW DO WE ADAPT?

• A surge in interest in impact-oriented action
  has been observed since the beginning of the
  century, in contrast to efforts centred on
  prevention
• 
  
  (Burton, 2002)
• Focuses on responding to the impacts of climate
  change and over emphasizes the management of
  observed risks.

• Example Include
• Air Quality Health Index,
• Heat Health Alert Systems,
• Sun Safety initiatives,
• Physical infrastructure renewal

Rather than sufficiently addressing the
underlying factors that cause vulnerability to
it.
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HOW DO WE ADAPT?
REDISTRIBUTE WEALTH
BUILD RESILIENCY
PROMOTE POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT
ELIMINATE ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
REDUCE BARRIERS TO EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, and
SOCIAL SUPPORT
ACCEPT COMMUNITY VOICE IN PLANNING
HOUSING FOR EVERYBODY
SUPPORT LOCALLY GROWN COMMUNITY FOOD INITIATIVES
Reify The Spiritual, and Artistic
Source http//www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/images/ipph_pyr
amid_phf_e.jpg
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QUESTIONS?

• Contact Information
• Mark Pajot
• York University
• pajotm_at_yorku.ca
• Peel Public Health
• 905-791-7800 ext. 2427
• Pajotm_at_peelregion.ca