Environment and Energy

Climate Change: A Cross-Cutting Issue

• Environmental sustainability
• Poverty alleviation
• Health
• Combating hunger
• Education
• Gender equality and women's empowerment

Given the interlinkages of climate change to the WEHAB framework and the realization of the MDGs at large, climate change at UNDP is viewed as a cross-cutting issue with linkages to wider development issues such as energy and environment at Energy and Environment Group (EEG) and inter-relationships to wider sustainable development issues of poverty, equity, and governance with other UNDP units, both internally and externally. Working in close collaboration with UNDP-GEF, EEG sub-practices, other BDP practices, BCPR, regional bureaux, country offices, and external partners, the climate change programme offer policy guidance and knowledge dissemination through interventions aimed at creating an enabling policy environment and strengthening institutional and human capacity through on-the-ground actions that are essential for an effective and truly multi-sectoral response to combat climate change.

It is critical that climate change not be approached as an isolated, stand-alone issue, but rather as part and parcel of overall sustainable development efforts and integrated in to national strategies for poverty eradication through new and innovative approaches to policy formulation and implementation and partnerships with diverse stakeholders. Accordingly, interventions relating to adaptation to climate change should be considered in the context of reducing the vulnerability of the poor in maintaining sustainable livelihoods and supporting sustainable development. Similarly, measures to stem GHG emissions should be pursued concurrently with national priorities to eradicate poverty and foster economic growth and development. There are ways to further both the mitigation of GHG emissions and adaptation to climate change, and the eradication of poverty, among them the promotion of renewable energy and greater energy efficiency, and sustainable land-use practices. More information on Energy

Protection of natural resources is of utmost importance in countries with large rural populations dependent on local agriculture for survival. Droughts and flooding, intensified by climate change, can lead to famine and loss or contamination of water supplies. Deforestation due to population pressures can accelerate land degradation, increasing the vulnerability of the poorest communities.

In view of the linkages between poverty and the environment, UNDP is engaged in initiatives to promote sustainable management of natural resources – land, water and biological assets – on which poor communities rely for their livelihoods. In over 90% of UNDP programme countries, UNDP implements environment-related projects. For more information on UNDP’s environmental policies and programmes, go to BDP’s Energy and Environment Group.

Environmental sustainability
The impacts of climate change will be most severe in heavily-populated, low-lying coastal areas and in regions where people are most dependent on natural resources drawn from their local environment. Infrastructure improvements will be required in many places to protect agricultural land from erosion and salt water intrusion, and to prevent widespread loss of lives, property and livelihoods due to weather-related disasters.

Integrated water resources management plans will need to consider the impacts of drought, flooding and storm damage on safe drinking water supplies, sanitation and risks from water-borne disease. Improved ecosystem management plans and habitat conservation measures can be included in adaptation responses designed to minimize damage to critical life-support systems for plants and animals as well as human populations. More information on biodiversity and Climate Change

UNDP’s Thematic Trust Fund on Environment is a source of funding for adaptation to climate change. For more information, please refer to Service Line 3 of the Thematic Trust Fund on Environment.

UNDP’s Trust Fund to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO) provides resources and technical training for countries undertaking national action plans regarding water management and drought preparedness and mitigation. Approximately 2 million peoples live in drylands, and most of the countries affected by desertification and drought are among the poorest and most marginalized in the world. Through policy dialogue and institutional capacity building UNDP helps governments integrate dryland concerns into national poverty reduction strategies to reduce the vulnerability of communities to environmental crisis.

In addition, UNDP is involved in work to assist countries with vulnerability and adaptation assessments to address the issue of expected climate change impacts. Small island states and low-lying areas are the most at risk from natural disasters related to climate change given their limited options in terms of adaptation.

More on Risk Management
More on Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Link to UNDP’s Bu Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery: http://www.undp.org/erd/

Poverty alleviation
Social safety nets and traditional coping strategies may be disrupted by climate-related disasters at the same time as there is damage to homes, businesses and community infrastructure. Disaster prediction and preventive measures can minimise vulnerability to impacts that could increase the numbers of people experiencing disruption, displacement, poverty.

For long-term poverty alleviation, access to energy is a critical factor for enterprise development and income generation. Emphasis should be placed on expanding the availability of energy sources that are climate-friendly and energy efficient, using renewable energy technologies and clean fuels wherever possible.More information on Poverty and Climate Change

Health
Planning for health care facilities will need to take into account changes in climate and weather patterns that are likely to spread heat waves and vector-borne diseases into new areas. Climate change issues are particularly important in water management programmes since droughts and flooding can lead to widespread lack of clean drinking water and sanitation.

Use of cleaner, more efficient fuels and energy sources can reduce the current widespread burning of wood and other biomass resources for cooking and heating, thereby reducing indoor and outdoor air pollution as well as carbon dioxide emissions. This transition to sustainable energy sources will also reduce the daily burdens and physical hardships involved in gathering fuel in rural areas, burdens which are especially borne by women and girls. More information on Health and Climate Change

Combating hunger
People relying on subsistence agriculture and natural resource harvesting (fishing, hunting, forestry) will be among those most impacted by climate variability. It is important to consider the potential for crop diversification and developing alternative income and food sources. Ecosystem management improvements may also be able to reduce vulnerability related to erosion, land degradation, flooding, desertification and drought.

Education
National disasters and climate-related stresses can interfere with the time and opportunity for focusing on improvements in educational systems. Schools and other community facilities can be used, however, to educate people about climate change, and to demonstrate and promote climate change mitigation through energy efficiency and the use of equipment, lighting and communications technologies that have low greenhouse gas emissions.

In rural areas, a transition to cleaner fuels as alternatives to the use of increasingly scarce wood and other biomass energy sources, together with the introduction of mechanised water pumping, can free children (especially girls) from survival activities such as gathering wood and hauling water that interfere with school attendance.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment
Since a disproportionate percentage of poor people are women, disaster planning and relief measures should take into account the particular needs and constraints that women experience, including lack of access to capital, land ownership, assets, credit, financing, and even vehicles for escape or migration. Efforts to include women in planning processes will help ensure that there concerns are recognised and addressed.