Managing risks in the context of an uncertain climate: Why lessons matter

By Marie-Ange Baudoin

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” George Santayana, Philosopher

2015 is an important year, when looking at the multiple international commitments to renew as many conventions, international agendas and other ‘frameworks for action’ that are coming to an end. The world is expected to commit to new objectives; more ambitious and more robust from what was gained through past experience, challenges and success. Some examples include  the Hyogo Framework 2 on Disaster Risk Reduction, the new Sustainable Development Goals agenda, as follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2000, and the United Nations Conference on Climate Change or ‘COP21’ to be held end of the year. 2015 is, thus, an opportunity to reflect on lessons collected from past experience, in order to build up new aspiring international agendas as pathways towards more sustainability, social equity and well being across the world.

 Speaking of the opportunity to learn from the past, I am writing this blog as I recently came back from an international workshop in Antalya, Turkey, an “Expert Forum” on “Lessons Learned about Lessons Learned on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation”, organised by the Consortium for Capacity Building (CCB) and mainly funded by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance and the World Meteorological Organisation (http://www.ccb-boulder.org/drr-expert-forum-2015/. Ninety participants attended the Forum from 43 countries, drawn from government agencies, humanitarian organizations, NGOs, academic and applied science research institutions, practitioners and youth & young professionals.

 The goal of this forum was to look at lessons learned about lessons learned about hydro-meteorological Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA). The conference was, then, not a scientific conference about the science of hydro-meteorological hazards. It was focused on the usability of the lessons identified from scientific and societal findings related to disaster risk reduction and a changing climate. One of the basic question behind this meeting was” Why don’t we (in the particular context of this workshop, “we” referred to international institutions) learn from the past?”.

On a personal note, I have always been interested in knowing more about the “learning process” among institutions; more specifically how knowledge and skills related to climate variability and climate change can be sustainably acquired by institutions, and integrated into practice, in order to improve the long-term effectiveness and resilience of the outcomes of their decision-making processes. 

Image Source: http://www.jeffalytics.com/lessons-learned-blogging/

The issue of learning and the several questions raised earlier are salient points for institutions implementing development projects and programmes and, more specifically, working in the context of environmental degradation, hazard risks and climate variability. Various studies of hazards and disasters undertaken over the past decades contain direct or indirect references to lessons that had previously been identified but had apparently not yet been implemented only to be “re- discovered” following the next disaster. Questioning why similar lessons tend to reappear following the occurrence of disasters raises, in it-self, multiple questions: Are there good reasons for not learning from past experiences? Where do lessons come from and does that make a difference with regard to their potential “re-usability” by future decision makers? Can organizations learn? And, more specifically in the field of DRR: Have we been looking in the right direction when it comes to “lessons learned”? One could argue that lessons not stored, re-used or shared, run the risk of producing nothing of value in the long term.

These interrogations must be addressed, if collecting lessons from experience is to continue to be considered valuable to the decision-making processes, especially for DRR and CCA, two salient fields of activity for development programmes implemented in the current context; one that can be defined as the Anthropocene[1]. The upcoming renewal of international commitments in both fields is another reason, as well as opportunity, to question the learning process among institutions with the aim to better integrate past lessons for practice improvements and increased effectiveness. Yet, today, whether in academia or practice, DRR and CCA are often managed by separate units with distinct missions and mandates. DRR and CCA in a changing climate concern humanitarian and development relief agencies alike. Scientists are projecting an increase in the intensity, frequency, magnitude and location of extreme hazard events as global climates continue to warm. At the same time, vulnerable coastal and floodplain populations continue to increase, setting the stage for even greater social and economic losses into the future.

In the context of climate change, DRR and CCA as fields of research or activity clearly present overlapping objectives and concerns, for instance in risk preparedness and vulnerability reduction, though they operate at different time scales. Overall, they share the overarching goal of creating resilient societies in the face of changing climate and environmental conditions. By bridging, better yet blending, their overlapping activities they can help to reinforce each other by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the outcomes of their projects and programs, more quickly and more sustainably. Such benefits can be gained by sharing their methodologies and lessons identified and by working to integrate, where beneficial, their activities at the different time and space scales at which they operate.

Philosopher Santayana once said, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” In light of the emergency to improve livelihood resilience under a changing climate, lessons, already collected and available for use, must be shared and, more importantly, put into practice. I do believe that 2015 is a year of opportunity to go beyond the never-ending process of identifying and collecting lessons; it is the right time to finally learn. Improved awareness and understanding of the “lessons learning process” for DRR and CCA, but also in other fields affected by a changing climate (health, infrastructure, etc.), is at a critical point as disasters increase whereas response funding stagnates. It is through trial and error, that people around the globe have been learning tactical and strategic responses their local and regional hydro-meteorological hazards and disasters. Recognizing and accepting the trial and error aspects of the learning process for DRR and CCA efforts today is a major positive step forward which could benefit the international community and, especially the societies facing uncertain climate fluctuation, change and extreme both today and in the future. 

The image below is the Makoko Floating School, Nigeria;  a prototype building for African regions affected by regular flooding – an example of a tactical and strategic response to disaster risk using knowledge and awareness of past lessons learned,

Source: http://www.dezeen.com/2014/03/25/makoko-floating-school-nigeria-nle/

CCB’s Expert Forum on DRR “Lessons Learned about Lessons Learned on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation” yielded important outcomes; particularly, a short Statement (known as the Antalya Statement) that includes 6 Calls-to-Action, which are useful to read about, conceptualize and share, in our future collective action towards climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.