This was a presentation to a group of residents in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in September 2010. The 2 hour session discussed climate change in broad brushstrokes, while also concentrating on what individuals can do to advance a progressive climate change agenda

1. The Human Face of Climate Change
Exploring the impact of climate change on humans and societies
Teton County Library
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
17 September 2010
Edward Cameron
edwardcameron@yahoo.com

3. How does climate change
interact with human and social
systems?
Why is this instrumentally as
well as intrinsically important?
What can we do to shape
effective and equitable
responses to this global crisis?

4. Climate Change: The basics
Unequivocal means that climate
change is real and undeniable
Accelerating means that the
effect is getting worse
“Very Likely” Anthropogenic
means a probability of more than
90% that it is human induced
and not the result of natural
causes

5. Climate Change: The impacts
Global mean temperature rises
Risks to unique and threatened
systems
Risks of extreme weather events
Changes in water patterns
Sea-level rises
Risks of large-scale singularities

6. Vulnerability to climate change
Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate change
and variation in which a system is EXPOSED, its SENSITIVITY, and its ADAPTIVE
CAPACITY (IPCC 2007a, p21)

7. Who are vulnerable?
๏ Women
๏ Indigenous Peoples
๏ The urban poor
๏ Inhabitants of small island
states
๏ Vulnerability is not a uniform
taxonomy

8. Poverty, hunger and increased water scarcity
๏ Temperature rises beyond 2°C could leave an additional 600 million
facing acute malnutrition by the 2080s, and as many as 4 billion people
experiencing growing water shortages.

9. Loss of livelihoods
๏ Livelihood sources of the poor are usually narrow and climate-
sensitive. In periods of stress they draw down on a variety of assets
and resources leaving them further exposed to the next risk.

10. Health and fatalities
๏ Vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and yellow fever are
expected to increase. Today, approximately 40% of the world’s population
is at risk from malaria. This is projected to rise to 80% by 2080.

11. Involuntary displacement and migration
๏ By 2050, between 200 and 300 million people may be
permanently displaced due to climate change

12. Damage to infrastructure and utilities
๏ Slow and rapid climate impacts destroys assets and infrastructure
๏ Public utilities can be severely undermined with impacts on long-
term development

13. Opportunity cost of climate change responses
๏ Valuable assets are diverted from development to combat climate
change impacts
๏ Climate change mitigation may alter the way we look at livelihood
diversification and access to affordable energy

14. Social justice, violent conflict and state fragility
๏ Climate change acts as a “threat multiplier” that heightens the conditions
for internal conflict, sows the seeds of instability in already volatile
regions, and increases the likelihood of failed states.

15. Failed promises and missed opportunities
We are at a crossroads
The destination seems impossibly distant

16. Inform
Persuade
Mobilize
Incentivize
Overcome the denial

17. “The great tragedy of sustainable development is that we
have not invented a politics to go with the concept”.
James MacNeill, former Secretary General of the
Brundtland Commission
Teton County Library
The Human Face of Climate Change Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Exploring the impact of climate change on humans and societies 17 September 2010

18. What does a human focus offer?
Discourse
Diagnosis
Design of process, institutions,
policies and instruments
Evaluation and assessment
Substantive outcomes

19. What can we do as a community?
Lead (1) - Get the politics right:
International
Domestic
Corporate
Municipal and local
Household

20. Climate change building blocks
Lead (2) - The building blocks:
Mitigation
Adaptation
Technology
Finance

21. What can you do?
Lead (3) - The Four Cs:
Citizen
Consumer
Communicator
Change Agent

22. “Right now a moment of time is passing by!
We must become that moment.”