When it comes to climate change, it’s a mad, mad world. That’s the message from a new EC-commissioned e-booklet, which uses the abbreviation “MAD” to outline a strategic framework for combating global warning: Mitigation, Adaptation, Development.
The message is stark and aimed at non-experts in the field, including EC delegation staffers: Climate change is a reality, not a debate, and the whole earth is going to be affected. Click on the image to read the document in full.
Climate change is an imminent threat to global civilisation. Simply put, all the plans and policies that governments have proposed are "too little and too late".
But the future starts today, and each and every individual and entity has a role to play. Action is required and European Union delegations in the field should take a cross-sectoral approach using the MAD acrostic and, above all, be bold since the gravity of the crisis calls for drastic action.
The booklet offers handy tutorials on the facts of climate change and global warming as well as the long-term implications for lesser-developed nations and a strategy for addressing the issues.
Among some suggestions for EU delegation staffers as well as development professionals around the world:
1. Raise awareness of key persons, strengthen institutions and decision-making; evolve an institutional structure that ensures well coordinated actions by all partners
2. Revise and integrate NIPs (National Indicative Programmes), PRSPs (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) and infrastructure master plans, identifying risks, vulnerabilities, options, sequencing and priorities
3. Promote improvement of global and sector governance to ensure effective investment of new mitigation and adaptation funds
4. Enhance synergies between National and Regional Indicative Programmes and Mitigation and Adaptation objectives. Collect and disseminate best practices from ongoing and previous programmes
5. Strengthen basic capacities in all sectors with support for education and training
6. Coordinate national actions with regional programmes that address common needs
7. Assist partners to access and make best use of new financing becoming available (e.g. www.climatefundsupdate.org/)
The document encourages all participants to take seriously climate change, invoking Mohandas Gandhi’s call to action: “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems”.
Log in with your EU Login account to post or comment on the platform.