Why humanitarian agencies should get engaged in the UN climate change negotiations

This article is an opinion brief

By the end of 2009 in Copenhagen, the world’s leaders will have agreed to a new deal to reduce greenhouse gases and to adapt to those consequences of climate change that we can no longer avoid. Negotiations are underway and will, among other issues, decide on mechanisms for distributing substantial funding. Humanitarian and disaster risk reduction organizations must be engaged in the coming months to ensure that the final deal will support disaster risk reduction and enable the most vulnerable people to adapt effectively to climate change. The opportunity to positively influence the negotiations is upon us: disaster risk management and risk reduction have been identified as important elements of the climate change deal, and a workshop on risk reduction will be held in Poznan, Poland, in December 2008. The Poznan workshop is one of few official events that will provide input to the negotiations. Therefore, humanitarian and DRR organizations must make clear to negotiators in Poland the policies and resources required to avert and be well prepared for climate-related disasters.