On the 5th June the University of Geneva Interdisciplinary Programme for Humanitarian Action hosted a one day conference entitled “Adapt or Surrender? The Challenges of Climate Change for Humanitarian Action”.
The conference was intended to highlight the challenges and threats posed by climate change for humanitarian actors and highlight possible responses.
Shane Tomlinson from E3G gave a keynote address highlighting the climate security challenge and the economic transformation which will be required to shift the world to a low-carbon development pathway.
Unless nations understand the security implications of climate change it is unlikely to be prioritised in policy making.
Debate on these issues needs to shift from narrowly focusing on apportioning the 0-2% of GDP global mitigation costs to managing the incidence of the 5-25% of global GDP damage costs which climate change could create.
A pdf version of Shane’s presentation is attached for download.
