Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/774090
Adaptation and resilience As the climate around us changes and its effects on our lives grow, we now face the responsibility of adapting to new challenges. We must guide our governments towards a unified voice which calls for the creation of a sustainable future including adaptation and resilience. We must also explore what can be done by developing countries to help strengthen resilience and enrich adaptation opportu- nities. We propose that developed nations have a responsibility to: • Support international resilience to natural disasters. • Encourage the development of sustainable infrastructure. • Provide education about resilience and sustainability. All countries must develop their resilience to natural disasters as no country is free of risks. For example, in recent years, Bangladesh experienced intense hurricanes, Australia suffered from extreme wildfires, and South Africa experienced catastrophic droughts. ese weather conditions are all related to climate change; and their intensity and frequency will only grow stronger as the global average temperature climbs. But we can endure them, if we prepare. Countries may build resilience capacity by adopting emergency disaster plans. We believe that every country must be able to respond quickly and effectively to natural disasters. To fund emergency preparedness initiatives, we believe that developed countries must also adopt a tax policy, such as a carbon tax. e money raised from taxes could then be allocated to a natural disaster fund. Such a fund could allow countries to respond to natural disasters anywhere in the world, not just within their own borders. e help provided may also prevent future climate change refugees and conflicts between nations. Sustainable infrastructure will allow nations to develop long-term resilience. We must prepare for more extreme natural disasters in the near future. We recommend that all countries and municipalities review infrastructure development and introduce new building codes to ensure sustainable, adaptive, and eco-friendly buildings. For example, updating building codes to promote "net-zero" construction, promoting financing options for individual use of solar power systems, or "smart grid" technologies to allow families to share the renewable energy they produce are all means of intervening on a local, urban-development level. Community-scale collection of rainwater for cleaning and other uses also reduces the demand of water from infrastructure. We believe that the building of infrastructure must be in harmony with the environment. is can be done by using new technologies, improving our management of small spaces, and building resilient, sustainable structures and systems. e challenge of adaptation lies in our ability to educate and engage the public in climate change understanding and adaption. is can be done by exploring climate change challenges and solutions with the goal of improving student understanding of the ecological footprint of their actions. An informed generation of students, with an understanding of the scale of climate change and the impact of their actions, can make wise decisions for their future in a climate-changed world. "Inconvenience is a small price to pay in the course of Adaptation and Resilience." Affiliate High School of Chung-Hsing University - Taichung City, Taiwan www.decarbonize.me