The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have formalized a partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding to promote building resilience in the world of climate change.
Climate change is affecting every aspect of human life in all corners of the world. Traditional knowledge and weather patterns are no longer dependable with natural disasters and abnormal temperatures increasing in both frequency and intensity. As the ongoing unprecedented flood in Pakistan shows, we need all hands-on deck to be prepared for the uncertainty and colossal scale of damage from the impact of climate change.
In this way, the MoU between ESCAP, the most inclusive intergovernmental platform in the Asia-Pacific region, and the IFRC, the world's largest humanitarian network with a view to prevent and alleviate human suffering, comes at an opportune time when regional and organizational cooperation is very much needed. The two organizations have numerous areas for collaboration, including but not limited to climate action, disaster risk management, and building inclusive and resilient communities.
"It's time to capitalize on the untapped potential of regional and subregional cooperation to address the region's shared vulnerabilities and risks that are more critical at 1.5 to 2 degrees warming," said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP. She further underscored, "If we are unable to contain the warming of the planet, the world will need to prepare for a new normal of "disasters on steroids."
"When we join forces, we are more powerful than when we work alone. Together we combine the strength of Governments with our global humanitarian network which includes our expertise, data, tools, knowledge, and human resources. This combination is very powerful to address the global challenges we face- especially the sharp increase in climate related disasters that can only be solved together," affirmed Jagan Chapagain, Secretary-General of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
