COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR ADAPTATION OF URBAN AND RURAL COMMUNITIES VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, UNCERTAINTY, VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE (SPECIAL SESSION - THEMATIC PROCESS)

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR ADAPTATION OF URBAN AND RURAL COMMUNITIES VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, UNCERTAINTY, VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE (SPECIAL SESSION – THEMATIC PROCESS)

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR ADAPTATION OF URBAN AND RURAL COMMUNITIES VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE,

UNCERTAINTY, VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE (SPECIAL SESSION – THEMATIC PROCESS)

Contextualization

The session discussed the challenges of facing vulnerability to climate change. It was pointed out that countries that suffer the most from extreme natural events caused by climate change are those that least contribute to emissions of polluting gases. The communities in these countries that are in a vulnerable situation (social, geographical and economic) are victims of actions and interests of other countries, are climate refugees and therefore protecting them is a challenge as they are not on the radar of the climate agenda. International agriculture is also one of the major contributors to climate problems, as many vulnerable communities have been driven from their original lands due to predatory agribusiness. They are refugees in the city, living in degrading conditions because the rural area is being exploited by this market. In Brazil, most geographically vulnerable communities are located in the southeastern and northeastern regions, because of the exploitation of land (northeast) people are moving more and more to industrial centers (southeast) in search of jobs. In addition, in rural Brazil monoculture has degraded the soil, decreasing crop diversity. There is only the adoption of palliative measures with these communities in situations of vulnerability.

Recommendations

Governments were encouraged to take sustainable and greener actions for long-term sustainable development. In addition, sharing experiences, specifically, looking for diasporic connections to global links and recognizing synergies between governments as ways of sharing knowledge, is recommended. This requires overcoming communication difficulties between scientists and the community by transforming climate data into simple information that can help society. In this regard, three initiatives were highlighted and are recommended as examples: CEMADEM (monitoring of rainfall indicators for small communities), PREPData (platform that includes historical data collected from communities) and the Toxic Tours made in South Durban, South Africa.

Conclusions

It is concluded that everyone is responsible for climate change, but at different levels. Climate change affects all countries, including the rich, but Africa is the continent that contributes the least to global climate change, and it suffers the most. Solving problems involves sharing knowledge and taking more sustainable action at government levels. Thus, it is important to share knowledge and not privatize it and treat it as an economic product.