UN HABITAT public address

UN HABITAT partnership launch and public address on adaptation to climate change by UN Under-Secretary-General

Adaptation to Climate Change: The Challenge of Island States
Address by Professor Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka
UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director UN-HABITAT

Friday 19 June 2009

5pm - 6pm, Case Room 2

Business School

Free Admission

Climate change is fast becoming the preeminent development challenge of the 21st century. But unlike the global financial crisis where we can go for quick fixes, climate change requires bold global action to reverse it Climate change is also inextricably linked to urbanization, which has become rapid and chaotic in many regions of the World, with more than one billion  people living in slums in life threatening conditions.
 
We need to be conscious of the fact that some 40 percent of the world’s population lives less than 60 miles from the coast, mostly in big towns and cities. A further 100 million live less than one metre above sea level. Ice sheet melting and ocean acidification as suggested by recent scientific evidence shows that the pacific islands are under serious threat and hence adaptation and mitigation efforts must be put in place now to avert possible disasters from climate change.
 
UN-HABITAT is convinced that climate change issues must be tackled within a broader framework of sustainable housing and urban development. This broader framework includes a holistic approach to participatory governance, urban environmental planning and management, and the harnessing of ecologically sound technologies. It requires new forms of partnerships with all major stakeholders, not least the people and the communities themselves, and from gender and age perspectives. It requires new paradigm shifts in the critical areas of transport, energy, water and waste management. It also requires, where appropriate innovative approaches to post-disaster relief to build back better.
 
Professor Tibaijuka will discuss these issues and make reference to the innovative Habitat Partner University network which is intended to translate scientific knowledge from research into practice for more sustainable human settlements.