Climate Change Seminar 2019Together We Can Do Better

MITC Melaka, 3-4 July 2019

Melaka State Health Department & Disease Control Division

Ministry of Health Malaysia

Resilience towards Climate Change04

Dr. Rohaida Ismail, Public Health Medicine Specialist

Presentation Outline

Introduction to resilience

Towards climate resilience

Health system resilience

Conclusion

1. Introduction to resilience

Transform the energy, industry, transport, food, agriculture and forestry systems

• To bring environmental health within the development plans

• To reduce GHGs

• To ensure that we can limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees

Build resilience to impact of CC

• Need to anticipate, adapt and become resilient to the current and future impacts of climate change

Mitigation

Adaptation

COP21 2015:

Malaysia reaffirm

its commitment to

maintain at least

50% level of

forest and tree

cover

Introduction to resilience

Definition of related concepts

Vulnerability

Adaptive

Capacity

Climate

Risk

Resilience

Climate Risk

Climate

Risk

“The combination of the likelihood (probability of occurrence) and the

consequences of an adverse event (e.g. tropical cyclone, drought, flood).”

(UNDP 2011)

…..refers to the probability of

occurrence of the impacts of

climate change, such as drought

and flooding.

Global Climate Risk Index 2019

Vulnerability to climate change

Vulnerability

“The degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse effects of

climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the

character, magnitude, and rate of climate variation to which a system is exposed, its

sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity.”

(IPCC 2007)

• The vulnerability of systems,

including human,

geophysical, biological and

socio-economic systems to

climate change differs

substantially across regions

and across populations within

regions.

• Vulnerability to climate

change deals with the extent

to which climate change may

damage or harm both

natural and human

systems.

Vulnerable Groups to Heat and Extreme

Events

Strongly influenced by socioeconomic and demographic factors

• Effective risk reduction depends crucially on targeting interventions for populations at particular risk and in modifying amenable risk factors.

Populations at particular risk include:

• Elderly

• Pregnant women

• Young children

• Patients with chronic diseases; for example, people with diabetes, obese and those with cognitive impairments

• Outdoor seasonal workers; unfavorable living conditions and intense physical activities

• Travelers

• Socially disadvantaged or isolated groups; substance abusers or homeless, women living in single households and certain specific ethnic communities

• Migrants, refugees and internally displaced people

https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/adaptation-gap-report

Resilience and Adaptive Capacity

“The ability of a social or ecological system to absorb disturbances while retaining the same basic structure

and ways of functioning, the capacity for self-organisation, and the

capacity to adapt to stress and change.” (IPCC 2007)

Resilience is an indication of the ability of a system to absorb changes and is

thus closely related to the concept of adaptive capacity.

Adaptive

Capacity

Resilience

“The whole of capabilities, resources and institutions of

a country or region to implement effective

adaptation measures.”

(IPCC 2007)

Conceptual framework for resilience

2. Towards climate resilience

Climate resilience

Population

Infrastructure

Natural resources

Governance

(a) Population

Equitable reduction of vulnerability by building community capacity and

ensuring provision of critical services, particularly in communities that bear

the brunt of climate impacts.

Population

Heat Management

• Heat management plans and actions are in place to support population including workers

• Priority locations are identified for implementation of cooling and shading infrastructure or programs

Air Quality Management

• Reduced airborne emissions from high-impact sources

• Updated management plans to respond to high risk air quality events

Community Outreach

• To have the resources they need to take action on climate change, enabling to adapt

(b) Infrastructure

Stronger and smarter infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events

Backup Power for Critical

Infrastructure

Identified the infrastructure that is most essential for

continuity of service delivery

Back-up power requirements of critical

facilities - prioritized based on a climate change

vulnerability assessment

Specific upgrades, new backup power systems, or

plans to provide mobile power in response to power

outages

- identified collaboration with partners

Key Sectors Affected by Climate Change

Disaster Risk Reduction

Education Energy Fisheries

Food And Agriculture

Forestry Health Education

Nature & Ecosystem

ConservationSpatial Planning Tourism Transport

Waste Water

Health sectors

Ultrafiltration Membrane System

Water Filter

Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG)

Water Generation

Rainwater Harvesting Systems (RHS)

Water Collection

Design Standards and Practices

Expansion and maintenance of detailed climate data to inform infrastructure design decisions

Updated design guidelines and practices across business units, including infrastructure design specifications, building code and other local guidelines

(c) Natural resources

The root of resilience - Maximizing the services provided by

natural systems

Natural Assets Management

A coordinated approach to

conserve and enhance natural assets as part of

ongoing asset management

processes

Management and protection of natural

assets and systems, such as

soils and stormwater

Increased number of healthy, well adapted natural

assets

Updated planning and development practices for soil and vulnerable

locations such as river banks and

flood prone areas

Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies

Source: Oxfam 2009 p 5

Water management

Flood Management

• Enhanced long-term vision for flood resilience to reflect changing climate conditions

• Aligned land use planning processes with flood risks and management practices

Stormwater Management

• Assessed design guidelines for stormwater management to deal with more intense storms

• Flood warning systems and response plans in place to address more frequent localized flooding situations

Long Term Water Supply

• Advanced drought management and response plans to manage the risk of declining water supply

• Strategic investments in water supply infrastructure and water demand management programs

(d) Governance

Participatory and integrated processes that bring together stakeholders

across sectors and jurisdictions to cultivate shared ownership of

resilience-building strategies.

Multiple

Stakeholders

Stakeholder Network

Communities and Citizens

Trade Unions

Civil Society Groups

Academic Institutions

BusinessesPolicy Makers

Government Administrators and Planners

Media

International Partners

Governance

Budgeting and Investment Priorities

• Leaders and project managers are aware of climate change risks and potential resilience solutions

• Corporate and departmental risk management and budgeting processes explicitly include climate change resilience criteria

Planning and Processes

• Plans and policies ensure that communities, neighborhoods, infrastructure and services are designed to respond to anticipated climate changes

Severe Weather Response and Recovery Management

• Systematically updated disaster risk reduction strategies that consider how climate change will increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events

• Partners in developing their own response and recovery plans

3. Health System Resilience

A climate resilient health system is one that is capable to anticipate, respond to, cope with,

recover from and adapt to climate-related shocks

and stress, so as to bring sustained improvements

in population health, despite an unstable

climate

~WHO

Building health system resilience to climate change is a cumulative process.

1. Make resilience a goal

2. Build capacity

3. Include the whole health system

4. Extend beyond health sector

5. Extend into community

Ten

Components

to Build

Climate-

resilient

Health

Systems

Leadership and governance (1)

Health workforce (2)

COMPONENT 1: Leadership and governance

• Governance

• Climate change and health focal points designated within the health ministry with specific programme of action and budget allocated

• Policy

• National strategy on health and climate change and/or H-NAP developed.

• Cross-sectoral collaboration

• Health representation ensured in main climate change processes at national, regional and global levels

COMPONENT 2: Health workforce

• Human resource skill building, training and education

• Training courses on climate change and health topics targeting health personnel conducted

• Organizational capacity development

• Contingency plans for the deployment of sufficient health personnel in case of acute shocks, such as extreme weather events and outbreaks developed at the relevant level

In order for the health sector to ensure effective health in a changing climate, it is key to understand how health and the system itself are going to be affected by climate variability and change and which health adaptation options are more

appropriate to effectively protect and promote health.

A key assessment is the Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment (V&A).

Comp. 3: Vulnerability, capacity &

adaptation assessment / VNA

The information generated by meteorological agencies needs to be connected to preventive

actions by health and other sectors to form a heat-health action plan

Comp. 4: Integrated risk monitoring and

early warning/ Heat early warning system

Research agenda: multidisciplinary national research

agenda on climate change and health defined and endorsed by

stakeholders

Support for research: research capacity on climate change and

health built by supporting relevant multidisciplinary networks, making available financial resources and

creating training opportunities

Connect to policy: research findings on climate change and

health disseminated to and used by policy makers.

Comp. 5: Health and climate research

Example 1. Restoring

mangroves in some coastal

zones is an adaptation

measure to increase resilience

to coastal storms. At the same

time, mangroves can provide

livelihoods that can improve

human well-being, also

through the increase in food

security.

Example 2. Water

conservation could increase

availability of enough water

for human consumption. When

promoting water availability,

water quality issues should be

properly addressed.

Comp. 7: Managing the environmental

determinants of health / Health co-benefits of

adaptation in other sectors

Sector Focus ― Agriculture: Examples of Possible Adaptation Measures

Development of tolerant/resistant crops

(to drought, salt, insect/pests)

Diversification of crops

Changes in fertilizer use and application

Changes in planting and harvesting

times

Soil-water management

Erosion control

Development of early warning systems

Related policy measures, such as

subsidies, and training and outreach

programmes

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4. Conclusion

Climate change, interacting with a range of other factors, placesincreasing stress on health.

• Equitable response to protect and improve populationvulnerability and health outcome from climate variability andclimate change

• Implement in a flexible way to take into account different localcontexts, take advantage of new evidence, experience andlessons learned from local and global in different changingcircumstances.