Many Strong Voices Climate Change and Adaptation in the Arctic and Small Island Developing States

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Many Strong VoicesClimate Change and Adaptation
in the Arctic and Small Island Developing States

• 11th Annual Conference of the International
  Environmental Forum
• Responding to Climate Change
• Scientific Realities, Spiritual Imperatives
• Ottawa, Canada
• 12 October 2007

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What is Many Strong Voices?

• The Many Strong Voices programme is an unique
  alliance between the Arctic and Small Island
  Developing States (SIDS).
• It aims to ensure the well-being of these
  regions in the face of climate change, and to
  help people protect their cultures, economies and
  environments.

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Why is it needed?

• 2007 report of the International Panel on Climate
  Change (IPCC IV)
• Arctic and SIDS most severely affected by climate
  change.
• Although natural and human environments differ
  markedly there are similar effects, including
• Rising temperatures
• Changing precipitation
• Shifts in the frequency/intensity of extreme
  weather events
• Projected changes in sea level threaten the
  ecology, economies and social and cultural fabric
  of both regions, posing serious challenges for
  sustainable development.

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Similar concerns Arctic and SIDS are the front
lines of climate change
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Arctic and Small Island Developing States -
Challenges

• reliance on economies based on natural resources
  on land and at sea
• high unemployment and low average educational
  attainment
• transportation and communication challenges
• coastal zones of great importance for the human
  and natural environment

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Arctic and Small Island Developing States -
Strengths

• a continuing, deeply-rooted connection of the
  people to their environment
• incorporation of traditional knowledge into daily
  life and decision-making
• a history of resilience and a demonstrated
  ability to adapt to outside influences over
  generations

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What are the Goals?

• Build capacity to strengthen the role of these
  vulnerable regions in negotiations on greenhouse
  gas mitigation and on climate change adaptation
• Raise awareness about the effects of climate
  change on vulnerable regions 
• Increase understanding of needs and solutions 
• Take action on adaptation

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What will it do?

• Develop a five-year action plan that will
• Conduct a comprehensive coastal impact assessment
  
• Develop new climate change networks to facilitate
  the sharing of knowledge and best practices
  between vulnerable regions,
• Support communities to devise concrete,
  community-relevant adaptation strategies, and
• Develop communications tools that will ensure
  that peoples voices are heard in international
  negotiations.

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Institutional Partners and Collaborators

• Aleut International Association (AIA)
• Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC)
• Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC)
• Center for International Climate and Environment
  Research Oslo (CICERO)
• Climate Change Energy Programme, Foundation for
  International Environmental Law and Development
  (FIELD)
• Global Programme of Action for the Protection of
  the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities
  (UNEP-GPA)
• Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)
• New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI)
• Organization of American States Dept. of
  Sustainable Development
• Overseas Countries and Territories of the
  European Union (OCTA)
• Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)
• Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
  Secretariat (UNFCCC)
• UNEP/GRID-Arendal
• WWF South Pacific Programme

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www.manystrongvoices.org
Shishmaref, Alaska
Male, Maldives