CAPE TOWN, South Africa, September 29 (IPS) – Equity and justice are the highlights of the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group IIpublished in 2022. The report focuses on the impacts of climate change, as well as vulnerability and adaptation.
In its summary for policymakers, the report states: “Inclusive governance, prioritizing equity and equity in adaptation planning and implementation leads to sustainable adaptation outcomes and more efficient (high reliability).” This is a welcome one, although long overdue for development.
The report provides broad evidence in favor of a focus on justice across different sectors and regions. It reflects the rapidly growing interest in climate justice – both in advocacy circles and in public discussions – and the dramatic increase in the volume of information on the subject.
Arguments related to climate justice include the need to address historical inequalities, established power struggles, and consider diverse perspectives and needs in planning and do. Only by confronting these issues directly can we deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and climate goals.
As stated in the Africa chapter of the IPCC, Africa is highly vulnerable to climate risks. The continent is particularly interested in discussions of equity and equity, which argue for low-carbon development without compromising economic growth.
Given the high concentration of people and the rate of growth, cities in Africa are particularly important places to focus on climate action. They have been slow to develop adaptation and mitigation policies and practices, but there are many lessons worldwide and within the continent to draw momentum.
Organizations like 350.org and the Climate Justice Alliance, are fighting for equity and justice locally and internationally. We can gather approaches by researching and understanding these efforts, but we need to make them locally relevant.
Globally, cities are rapidly integrating climate action in their plans to reduce emissions and the impact of hazards, such as droughts, floods, fires and heat waves.
Some African cities have made progress by building equity and equity in their climate response programmes. Kampala is converting organic waste into baking powder for cooking. This provides an alternative livelihood strategy, reducing the number of trees cut for coal and the amount of waste going to landfill.
In response to the risk of flooding in the vicinity, people in Nairobi have invested in reducing their exposure. In addition, they mobilized youth groups to disseminate environmental information and participate in activities such as planting trees to stabilize riverbanks.
Some local governments are stepping up their climate change management efforts. However, city government responses are often industry-specific and cannot succeed on their own – the challenge is too great and urgent.
More projects and programs that use a collaborative or co-production approach are needed to meet equity and equity goals. We have to come up with creative ways to bring in different sectors and actors—to really listen to their perspectives and explore potential solutions. Such an approach may require a safe space for testing. In addition, we must develop methods of scaling urban solutions to ensure adaptive solutions meet the needs of the most at-risk groups in cities and institutionalize strategies in city planning and implementation.
Epic Justice
Cognitive equity refers to the extent to which the knowledge of different people is recognized. There is a lot of scientific evidence that solving complex problems benefits from a variety of knowledge bases. However, city governments provide little opportunity to integrate diverse perspectives.
In the context of inequality, ensuring that the voices of those who are disadvantaged and at-risk are included is critical to creating appropriate locally owned solutions.
The FRACTAL project (Future Resilience for African Cities and Lands) joined a team of transdisciplinary researchers, officials and practitioners who have worked across six cities in southern Africa since 2015. 2015 to 2021.
FRACTAL demonstrates how city stakeholders and researchers can co-produce knowledge about climate impacts and potential adaptation responses in cities like Lusaka, Maputo and Windhoek.
While climate science was an important part of the project, the initial phases provided the time and space for participants to share the “burning questions” in their cities and to collaborate. decide how to deal with these problems.
Some cities have developed narratives of climate risk to guide future decisions. Others who have developed climate change planning materials and platforms think about adaptation projects through a holistic lens. It is important that the participants have built the trust and capacity of city members to collaborate on this work.
When prioritizing adaptation actions at the city level, local governments tend to use criteria based on their framework and data, providing only one perspective. However, more bottom-up data is needed to meet the needs of those most at risk.
Arguments related to climate justice include the need to address historical inequalities, established power struggles, and consider diverse perspectives and needs in planning and do. Only by confronting these issues directly can we deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and climate goals.
Such data can better capture the challenges people face, such as accessing water during droughts or recovering from floods that may have swept away homes and properties.
One recent project in Cape Town sought to do this. Local activists from low-income neighborhoods collected data on issues surrounding water service and explored different ways, including movies, comic books, and maps as ways. to share this information with other residents and city officials.
Collaboration between NGOs, researchers and local governments can enhance the type of data available and contribute to a more nuanced understanding.
For example, the National Federation of Slum dwellers of Uganda has collected local data that informs the planning and development of solutions to reduce climate risks with sustainable building materials and improve epidemics. water and sanitation services. This work enables them to negotiate effectively with local authorities to support further efforts.
Globally, cities are rapidly integrating climate action in their plans to reduce emissions and the impact of hazards, such as droughts, floods, fires and heat waves. They are also rapidly expanding their access to climate funding.
It is time for African cities to determine how they will engage in climate action and space justice to ensure they meet the serious challenges they face.
Gina Ziervogel is Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Geosciences at the University of Cape Town.
Source: Innovation Africa, United Nations, September 2022
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