Climate Sense

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overnance

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anagement

mation products, or related management strategies as part of their

overall development toolkit. It is also clear that mainstream prac-

titioner communities in health, water, agriculture, finance, and

other key sectors have not yet begun to incorporate climate risk

management into their day-to-day programmes. In addition, many

climate service providers do not provide information on scales that

are relevant to policy and management decisions.

A recent study by the International Research Institute for Climate

and Society has characterized the current situation as one of market

atrophy – negligible demand coupled with inadequate supply of

climate services for development decisions.

In this system, the

climate information production community is neither invested in,

nor informed about, its client community. Meanwhile, user commu-

nities are poorly informed about climate, confused by the abundance

of disparate information available, and generally mistrustful of the

reliability and usefulness of existing information.

In this sense, the main obstacle to the widespread implementation

of climate risk management is the lack of engagement and commu-

nication between user communities. Climate researchers and service

communities develop knowledge and related information products

from a disciplinary research perspective – largely uninformed about

stakeholder needs. Meanwhile stakeholders in development, policy

and planning are not capable of assimilating relevant climate infor-

mation that is available. As a result, research is not being taken up.

Stakeholders increasingly worry about climate but remain largely at

a loss about what to do in practice.

The solution to this dilemma requires a focus at the nexus of these

communities. It also requires the cooperation of relevant commu-

nities on scales from global to local. The extent to which we can

meet this challenge will, in large measure, determine the benefit

that can be realized from major ongoing investments

in research, observations, assessments, international

policy and climate-sensitive development programmes

in years to come.

Pathways forward in climate risk management

and adaptation

Despite challenges, the current state of affairs offers

unprecedented potential to advance our capacity to

manage climate risks and opportunities. The global

dialogue has proceeded from a debate about the

reality of climate change to a call for action in both

mitigation and adaptation, and the world is now

preparing for negotiations on future national and

international commitments and action. The linkages

between climate risk management, adaptation, disas-

ter risk management, and sustainable development

have been identified and are increasingly being recog-

nized and embraced. The desire for significant action

seems overwhelming.

Undoubtedly, a key aspect of action addressing

‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ – but also

an opportunity for leadership for developed countries

– is to offer substantial commitments in the area of

knowledge, information and technology transfer to

assist developing countries to more effectively manage

climate risks – from the next season up to a couple of

decades ahead.

While many new initiatives are likely to be pursued

along these lines, the greatest opportunity lies in the

Bangladeshi villagers watch a disaster awareness and preparedness programme

Image: Shehab Uddin/Drik/British Red Cross