PDC Updates | Jun 15, 2009

Kihei, Hawaii—Vietnamese scientist, Dr. Nguyen Huu Ninh, visited the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Offices in Maui, June 8–11 to solidify agreements on the launching of the International Program on Climate Change and Variability Risk Reduction (IP-CVR). The global program is envisioned as a way to focus on disaster risk reduction policies and practices, based on the latest science and information regarding climate change and variability, and its anticipated impacts on shifting natural hazard risks.

“In my view, we only have until 2020–2030 to take actions to mitigate or otherwise the change will become irreversible with catastrophic consequences,” urged Dr. Ninh in a presentation to the PDC staff, which was later repeated for a small gathering of the general public. Dr. Ninh was one of the primary authors of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He is also the Chairman/Director of the Center for Environment Research Education and Development (CERED), headquartered in Hanoi.

Dr. Nguyen Huu Ninh at Pacific Disaster Center
PDC Executive Director Ray Shirkhodai, left, greets Dr. Nguyen Huu Ninh at Pacific Disaster Center’s Maui headquarters.
The vision of the IP-CVR was sparked by an earlier International Expert Working Group meeting jointly sponsored by the East-West Center and PDC in 2008 which brought together more than 20 international, multi-disciplinary experts to discuss gaps (in our understanding, our technology and our efforts), needs of all involved, and the not-yet-fully defined “Shifting Risks” related to the climate change. The Expert Working Group concluded that, despite much valuable research in climate change and variability, not enough attention is being given to the practical utility of the scientific work to the “end users,” that is, policy makers, risk reduction practitioners, and the general public.

More specifically, climate change and variability is anticipated to have huge impacts on water resources, food security, agriculture, health and energy, and to have such consequences as mass migration. These, and many other related items, are the basic “ingredients” of disaster risk. And, while the exact timing and nature of the shifting risks are at the center of scientific debate, all agree that the magnitude of the impacts will be beyond the adaptive capacities of the existing natural and human systems. That is, the existing systems be inadequate—meaning they will fail—to address future disaster risks unless focused attention is placed now on policy implications related to the subject matter and on disaster risk reduction efforts.

IP-CVR aims to address these shortcomings by putting the practical results of climate change and variability sciences into the hands of the policy makers, risk reduction practitioners, planners, and ultimately, the “end users,” or public. The approach is to create an international multi-disciplinary center of gravity for scientists and practitioners in disaster risk reduction, an opportunity for them to exchange ideas, share practices, and acquire joint projects and resources to address risk-related issues.

After a year of background work since the Expert Working Group meeting in Honolulu, Dr. Ninh’s visit to PDC marked the first major milestone in the establishment of the program and culminated in extending invitations to other international experts to form the core of the IP-CVR, an International Advisory Panel (IAP). “We are very optimistic about the program as a major global effort to bridge the gaps between the sciences and the end users regarding climate change and variability, and we hope to make contributions to reducing associated risks and addressing security issues,” said Ray Shirkhodai, the Executive Director of PDC. “And we are honored to be working with Dr. Ninh and other international partners on this important and noble endeavor.”

The formal launching of IP-CVR is expected in early fall with the participation of the core IAP members.

For additional information consider these resources:

  • An article on the Expert Working Group Meeting mentioned above
  • Pacific Disaster Center’s public website where you can view or link to various climate related resources, including weather & hazard messages, forecasts, satellite imagery and Hawaii’s astronomical tides.
  • The English language portal of CERED, Dr. Ninh’s organization in Vietnam.
  • East-West Center’s website where news and events of related interest are posted.
  • The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the organization awarded the Nobel Prize along with Vice President Al Gore, allows readers to download full texts of many publications from its website.
  • The website of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has numerous useful links and references.
  • A “PDC Perspectives” paper on the 2004 hurricane season in relation to climate change
  • The Maui News article about the public presentation by Dr. Ninh and Ray Shirkhodai, 12-Jun-2009
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