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Summary of Workshop on Climate and
Island Coastal Communities
In November 2000, the East-West Center hosted an
exciting, three-day Workshop on Climate and Island Coastal Communities
that provided a unique forum for business leaders, scientists, government
representatives, public interest groups and community leaders to jointly
explore opportunities to address the significant challenges that climate
variability and change present to the State of Hawaii and other island
jurisdictions throughout the Pacific and the Caribbean. The Workshop was
organized as part of a Pacific Islands Regional Assessment project funded
by the National Science Foundation (NSF), on behalf of NSF, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and the U.S. Department of the Interior. The results of
this project will provide a Pacific regional contribution to the first
U.S. National Assessment of the Consequences of Climate Variability and
Change (being organized under the auspices of the U.S. Global Change Research
Program and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy).
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The November Workshop on Climate and Island Coastal
Communities was designed to achieve two, mutually-supportive objectives:
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To develop a more complete understanding of
the regional consequences of climate variability and change for Pacific
Island jurisdictions in the context of other economic, social and environmental
stresses; and
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To initiate and sustain an interactive dialogue
among scientists, governments, businesses and communities in the Pacific
region designed to promote the use of climate information to support
practical decision- making.
As EWC President Morrison noted in his letter of
welcome to Workshop participants, "climate variability and change, like
so many critical issues facing the Asia-Pacific Region, require creative
approaches that bring governments, businesses, communities and scientists
together in innovative, new partnerships." The theme of sustaining critical
partnerships was reflected throughout the Workshop and provided the focus
for an inspirational closing keynote address by Puanani Burgess.
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Rather than the traditional approach of identifying
and quantifying impacts, the November 2000 Workshop was organized around
the concept of climate vulnerability. This conceptual framework enabled
participants to explore not only issues of climate sensitivity and exposure
but also the ability of communities, ecosystems, and businesses to respond
(adapt) to climate impacts. Reflecting this focus on identifying and promoting
appropriate action, most of the Workshop deliberations took place in highly-interactive
working group discussions of the implications of climate variability and
change for key aspects of island life: access to freshwater, protecting
public health, ensuring public safety and protecting community infrastructure,
sustaining key economic sectors of tourism and agriculture, and promoting
the wise use of coastal and marine resources. In each of these areas,
Workshop participants provided valuable insights into how Pacific Island
jurisdictions can reduce climate sensitivity and exposure and enhance
their adaptive capacity - build resilience - to the significant challenges
presented by climate variability and change. Detailed findings and recommendations
in each of these critical areas are being incorporated into the Pacific
Islands Regional Assessment report scheduled to be completed in spring
2001.
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EWC Climate Project Coordinator, Eileen Shea, has
summarized a number of important general findings that emerged from the
November 2000 Workshop on Climate and Island Coastal Communities. First
among these is the strong endorsement of a commitment to continuing a
Pacific Islands climate dialogue that engages experts from all knowledge
groups - each individual bringing their own unique insights and experience
to the table in a joint effort to understand and respond to a shared challenge.
Establishing and sustaining these critical partnerships in research, dialogue
and education emerged throughout the Workshop as the fundamental key to
effectively responding to the challenges of climate variability and change.
Embedded within this commitment, should be the meaningful integration
of traditional knowledge and practices as well as western science and
technology. Kumu Hula John Kai`imikaua set the stage for this important
concept in his opening keynote presentation of story, chant and dance
that provided exciting examples of the insights that can be drawn from
traditional knowledge of weather and climate in the Native Hawaiian community.
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Other key Workshop findings included recommendations related to:
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Enhancing efforts to interpret and communicate
climate information;
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Pursuing pro-active (rather than reactive) policy
options with a sustained commitment to adaptation, the integration of
climate information into planning, decision-making and policies at all
levels of government;
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Using climate information to address today's
problems today - e.g., responding to the dramatic year-to-year climate
fluctuations like the 1997-1998 El Niño;
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Recognizing the special characteristics of island
communities, including their unique natural and cultural assets, the
limitations imposed by their geographic size and isolation, and their
dependence on critical natural resources (e.g., coral reefs) and climate-sensitive
economic sectors (e.g., agriculture and tourism);
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Addressing the consequences of extreme events
(e.g., changes in patterns of droughts and tropical storms) as well
as long-term trends (e.g., rising sea level); and
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Filling critical information gaps, including
the development of regional and local-scale information on climate processes
and consequences.
The November 2000 Workshop on Climate and Island
Coastal Communities reflected an emerging paradigm of climate (and other
environmental) assessments as a sustained process that combines scientific
exploration with an effective science-policy dialogue. This paradigm suggests
that, in a practical sense, a commitment to a climate assessment mission
means a commitment to supporting the emergence of a climate information
system designed to meet the needs of decision-makers. As EWC President
Charles Morrison noted in his letter of welcome, "The Workshop's approach
of combining research, dialogue and education mirrors the mission of the
East-West Center itself, supporting the emergence of such new partnerships
in toward an Asia-Pacific community committed to shared learning and joint
problem-solving."
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Contact:
Eileen L. Shea
Climate Project Coordinator
East-West Center
Phone: (808) 944-7253
e-mail: sheae@eastwestcenter.org
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