An international climate change adaptation tracking project has turned to Nelson Mandela Bay for new direction.
Track ADAPT was launched at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum in Gqeberha on Thursday and the rich mix of speakers and guests included climate change scientists, activists, artists, poets and government decision-makers.
Christophe Bonnet of the French Agency for Development, which is funding the two-year project, said he was excited to see what would come of it.
He said Track ADAPT was developed by the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations in Paris, and implementation so far had focused on rural sites.
“The aim now for the first time is to apply it on an urban scale, and at the same time to incorporate different types of knowledge.
“The hope after that is to take it back to Paris to help us with our approach there and elsewhere in the world.”
He said the diversity of representation at the Gqeberha meeting was indicative of what was needed.
“We would not easily be able to organise a meeting like this in France.
“We need to incorporate the knowledge of all communities on the issue of climate change adaptation, how they are experiencing it, how they are adapting to it, and what should be our plan ahead.”
Bonnet said climate change was already savaging Europe.
“We are used to hot summers and fires, but this is a risk multiplier.
“We are having heat waves like never before. I could not send my daughter to school at one point because it was too hot.
“In France and Spain, the fires have displaced 330,000 people.”
He said applying Track ADAPT in an urban setting was also an opportunity to communicate the latest findings of the International Panel on Climate Change and get the response of civil society.
“This project takes the form of a series of questions, first a simple one about awareness, and then others on the more complex issues.
“These include what existing adaptation measures are being taken, what capacity is there for further steps, what evidence is there of success, and what finally is the pathway that we need to be on.”
The project launch was hosted by members of the Bay climate change resilience strategy framework group, who will now be driving Track ADAPT.
They will be doing so in collaboration with a range of partners, including the metro and a cross-section of Bay scientists and climate, arts and culture collectives.
It will also see a partnership with a University of Cape Town research group which will simultaneously be implementing Track ADAPT in the Mother City.
Bay framework spokesperson Therese Boulle said the 2015-2020 drought, the two waves of severe floods thereafter in the metro, and the increasingly large and frequent ocean storm surges were clear indicators of climate change.
“We have to ensure that every decision we make as a metro is a climate decision with the long term in mind and not just the short term.
“The aim is to build collective muscle, identify risks and ensure that no measures are taken at the expense of ecosystems or communities.
“The goal is local, contextualised planning and implementation, and to link ways of living to climate change adaptation.”
Eager audience members quickly pinpointed a range of issues directly or indirectly linked to climate change, and various adaptations that could be undertaken.
These included invasive alien vegetation and harvesting this resource for biofuel, collecting and purifying grey water, and including communities in the growing trend of multinationals investing in reforesting and carbon trading projects.
Veteran oceanographer Dr Eckart Schumann said it was crucially important that decision-makers understood how various eco-problems had developed, including the erosion of beaches due to dune sand being artificially stabilised.
Bay public health political head Thsonono Buyeye said the metro fully supported the project.
The Herald
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