 |
|
|
 |
We’ve now moved on from talking about just mitigation to discussing how we must adapt to the new realities imposed by the effects of climate change, and how we’re going to do that in an equitable manner” says Ninni Ikkala, Climate Change officer at IUCN. But this must go beyond the political sphere. “One of the most important things the conservation community can accomplish at this point,” says Gonzalo Oviedo, Senior Social Policy Advisor for the IUCN, “is to give marginalized, and therefore vulnerable, people a much stronger voice in the climate change debate.” That means women above all, according to Elise Buckle, Programme Officer with IUCN. “Research has shown that women suffer most in natural disasters, such as floods or droughts, and yet they may be the most promising part of the solution to climate change, not only because of their key role in educating children and making fuel choices for cooking, but also because they are the ones who hold the community together.”The need to take these concerns into consideration to combat climate change is becoming clearer every day. It will be an integral part of the discussions among the 8,000 members of the conservation community attending the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona in October 2008, and it represents new hope that we may yet turn things around in time. |
|
|
|
|
Every day, everywhere, it’s getting hotter. The weather is more unpredictable, ice is melting, plants are disappearing and insects are appearing where they shouldn’t. These alarming trends aren’t new. There has been a lot of talk about the need to fight climate change, but disappointingly this has not been matched by action. Recently, however, there have been some changes that may yet herald the beginning of a new era in humanity’s fight against climate change. |
 Multimedia Image gallery Full article  Facts |
|
|
|
|
|
       |
|
|
|
|
 Increasingly severe droughts caused by climate change are stripping many of the world’s most vulnerable people of the land they need to grow their food. © IUCN Photo Library © IUCN / Alicia Wirz  Indigenous people often suffer most from the impacts of climate change. Their needs and the techniques they use for conserving their own, often complex, environment should take a far more important place in the climate change debate. © IUCN Photo Library © IUCN / Jim Thorsell  Remote and marginalized cultures that have survived in balance with nature for thousands of years will simply disappear if climate change is allowed to go unchecked much longer. © IUCN Photo Library © IUCN / Jeffrey McNeely  Women in developing countries play a key role in helping communities adapt to the impacts of climate change, yet their voice is hardly heard in discussions on climate change. © IUCN Photo Library © IUCN / Danièle Perrot-Maître |
        |
|
|
|
|
|
