<p>The fifth Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN) forum held in Sri Lanka facilitated the sharing of success stories and learnings with regard to climate change from across the Asia Pacific region. <br /><br /></p>.<p>There has been a wide variety of measures since the region has many different local conditions: small islands, low-lying areas at risk from sea level rise, mountain communities imperilled by the melting of glaciers, storm-prone and drought-prone regions, islands and a subcontinent, cities and villages. <br /><br />The global fight against climate change and efforts to successfully adapt to the changing realities will be effective only with the scaling up of successful measures adapted at local levels. The flooding of cities, be it Colombo in May 2016 or Bengaluru and Gurugram in August this year, or Chennai last December, is a result of unsustainable growth and a disregard for natural flood management. With a majority of the world’s population living in urban areas and more moving there every day, cities need to become a focus area. Encroaching watersheds and water bodies in the name of construction, and making garbage dumps out of marshlands contribute to the vicious cycles of flooding and drought. <br /><br />Lessons from India <br /><br />The Himalayan state of Sikkim is at risk from melting glaciers. The water from melting glaciers result in the overflowing of lakes. To prevent future flooding, a public-private partnership was formed and it facilitated the laying of good-quality pipes between the overflowing lake and a drier one at a lower level. This was done at a great expense with the collaboration of multiple stakeholders. Yet, now that it’s in place and has worked, it automatically averts flooding whenever the lake waters cross a particular level. <br /><br />The cyclone-prone state of Odisha is battered by natural disasters, leading to poverty and impoverishment. Thus, an innovative solution for the same was an adaptation measure that also generated income. The clogging of stormwater drains as well as the poor solid waste management practices in cities made flooding inevitable even in mild cloudbursts. This threat was made into an opportunity by importing a Japanese ‘waste to energy’ system. Thus, community-level wastes were prevented from being irresponsibly disposed off by incentivising collection for processing in the system to generate fuel, which in turn was sold and became an income generation activity for the community. <br /><br />There were examples of farm-level adaptation from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. While farmers weren’t aware of the modern jargon, there was ancestral knowledge in pockets that facilitated successful transitioning to different crops after surveys, knowledge sharing and awareness programmes were conducted across farming communities in the drought-hit regions. With guarantee of access to market through collaboration with civil society organisations and through mobile and internet marketing, many small farmers and large landholders moved from water-intensive cultivation methods to soil-regenerative ones. Meanwhile, the new market penetration also enabled many local handicrafts to become commercially viable, thus generating multiple sources of revenue for farming families.<br /><br />Lessons from small islands<br /><br />The main lesson from low-lying islands in the region is respect for the sea and care for its resources. While sea walls, building of quays and even land reclamation are common strategies in island states, their long-term sustainability is a cause for concern. Already sea walls have breached in storm surges making them almost ineffective. Reclaimed land and new harbours are, in turn, more at risk to sea erosion as dredging destabilises previously uneroded areas. These are mistakes that can be avoided in other low-lying regions at risk from sea incursion.<br /><br />Water and food security is a constant concern in islands as resources become scarce when there is limited access to cultivable land and fresh water. Innovative, sustainable farming ensured food security, while waste water recycling and water desalination in combination with renewables increased the effectiveness and ecological feasibility of such strategies. These setups also generated employment and thus provided alternatives to livelihoods dependent on increasingly scarce resources.<br /><br />Integration is key<br /><br />The importance of government action and support in addressing environmental concerns is central to climate change adaptation. Yet the needs and the ground realities of communities are essential for proper implementation. And transitioning from a hydrocarbon-driven economy to a carbohydrate-driven one would enable more equitable development, opines Dr Ranil Senanayika, proponent and pioneer of analogue forestry. With many climate change experts stating that the problem of climate change can be won or lost in the cities, making them inclusive, resilient and sustainable is central to climate change adaptation. <br /><br />A common theme that emerged at the session was that measures that solved multiple problems and were more inclusive were the most successful in the long run. Out-of-the-box thinking, revival of ancestral knowledge, innovative financing options and looking into the loopholes of laws solved climate change problems and helped communities adapt better in these places.</p>
<p>The fifth Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN) forum held in Sri Lanka facilitated the sharing of success stories and learnings with regard to climate change from across the Asia Pacific region. <br /><br /></p>.<p>There has been a wide variety of measures since the region has many different local conditions: small islands, low-lying areas at risk from sea level rise, mountain communities imperilled by the melting of glaciers, storm-prone and drought-prone regions, islands and a subcontinent, cities and villages. <br /><br />The global fight against climate change and efforts to successfully adapt to the changing realities will be effective only with the scaling up of successful measures adapted at local levels. The flooding of cities, be it Colombo in May 2016 or Bengaluru and Gurugram in August this year, or Chennai last December, is a result of unsustainable growth and a disregard for natural flood management. With a majority of the world’s population living in urban areas and more moving there every day, cities need to become a focus area. Encroaching watersheds and water bodies in the name of construction, and making garbage dumps out of marshlands contribute to the vicious cycles of flooding and drought. <br /><br />Lessons from India <br /><br />The Himalayan state of Sikkim is at risk from melting glaciers. The water from melting glaciers result in the overflowing of lakes. To prevent future flooding, a public-private partnership was formed and it facilitated the laying of good-quality pipes between the overflowing lake and a drier one at a lower level. This was done at a great expense with the collaboration of multiple stakeholders. Yet, now that it’s in place and has worked, it automatically averts flooding whenever the lake waters cross a particular level. <br /><br />The cyclone-prone state of Odisha is battered by natural disasters, leading to poverty and impoverishment. Thus, an innovative solution for the same was an adaptation measure that also generated income. The clogging of stormwater drains as well as the poor solid waste management practices in cities made flooding inevitable even in mild cloudbursts. This threat was made into an opportunity by importing a Japanese ‘waste to energy’ system. Thus, community-level wastes were prevented from being irresponsibly disposed off by incentivising collection for processing in the system to generate fuel, which in turn was sold and became an income generation activity for the community. <br /><br />There were examples of farm-level adaptation from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. While farmers weren’t aware of the modern jargon, there was ancestral knowledge in pockets that facilitated successful transitioning to different crops after surveys, knowledge sharing and awareness programmes were conducted across farming communities in the drought-hit regions. With guarantee of access to market through collaboration with civil society organisations and through mobile and internet marketing, many small farmers and large landholders moved from water-intensive cultivation methods to soil-regenerative ones. Meanwhile, the new market penetration also enabled many local handicrafts to become commercially viable, thus generating multiple sources of revenue for farming families.<br /><br />Lessons from small islands<br /><br />The main lesson from low-lying islands in the region is respect for the sea and care for its resources. While sea walls, building of quays and even land reclamation are common strategies in island states, their long-term sustainability is a cause for concern. Already sea walls have breached in storm surges making them almost ineffective. Reclaimed land and new harbours are, in turn, more at risk to sea erosion as dredging destabilises previously uneroded areas. These are mistakes that can be avoided in other low-lying regions at risk from sea incursion.<br /><br />Water and food security is a constant concern in islands as resources become scarce when there is limited access to cultivable land and fresh water. Innovative, sustainable farming ensured food security, while waste water recycling and water desalination in combination with renewables increased the effectiveness and ecological feasibility of such strategies. These setups also generated employment and thus provided alternatives to livelihoods dependent on increasingly scarce resources.<br /><br />Integration is key<br /><br />The importance of government action and support in addressing environmental concerns is central to climate change adaptation. Yet the needs and the ground realities of communities are essential for proper implementation. And transitioning from a hydrocarbon-driven economy to a carbohydrate-driven one would enable more equitable development, opines Dr Ranil Senanayika, proponent and pioneer of analogue forestry. With many climate change experts stating that the problem of climate change can be won or lost in the cities, making them inclusive, resilient and sustainable is central to climate change adaptation. <br /><br />A common theme that emerged at the session was that measures that solved multiple problems and were more inclusive were the most successful in the long run. Out-of-the-box thinking, revival of ancestral knowledge, innovative financing options and looking into the loopholes of laws solved climate change problems and helped communities adapt better in these places.</p>
