Talking Climate Change is Fun and Relevant for All of Us

The following is a post by Joanne Manda, Climate Change and Environment Adviser, DFID Bangladesh.

Talking climate change may initially seem daunting (too technical), boring (all that climate science puts me to sleep) or just plain weird (something just for those whose greatest ambition is to hug a tree or save a polar bear!). But I have found- time and again – that it’s a very exciting and practical discussion about the things that we value the most.

It is about saving our hard earned money today while also contributing to preserving our planet for our children theirs after that. It’s about learning to be more efficient in our operations and investments (whether personal or programmes that the UK finances) today in order to make sure that rapidly dwindling resources will still be there for the longer term.

It’s about being creative, thinking out the box, innovating and coming up with new ways of doing things, new ways of working with others. It’s really about how we live our lives – EVERYBODY can relate to that!

I was in Central Asia from 22 June to 6 July 2013. The main reason was to help launch the Strategic Programme Review (SPR) work stream for Central Asia Department. I love working on SPRs because the process is so different for each country office or department – you never know what will come up.

People can be so creative once they have a good understanding of a subject matter and what it means for them as individuals. In the end though, it means that staff in the office have a better awareness and appreciation of what all this climate change stuff is about and are better equipped to make a contribution – no matter how small.

The British Embassy in Tajikistan held a half day workshop on 2 July 2013 to launch the SPR. The day was packed with information- we had Ilhom Rajabov from the PPCR setting the scene on the potential impacts of CC on Tajikistan. I learnt that for Central Asia, temperatures will increase and rainfall patterns (as well as snow fall patterns) will be more variable in many regions.

This will especially have an adverse impact on the agricultural sector which supports 64% of livelihoods in the country. That’s a big impact!

I was thrilled to discover that the UK is well positioned to respond and is already is working with GIZ on a major programme called GREAT (what a cool acronym), which will safeguard and improve the productivity of over 943,000 people through improved agricultural technologies and advice on how to improve their agricultural practices. The programme will also strengthen agricultural markets.

We played a risk management game (designed by Pablo Suarez) which really had the whole group buzzing! To me, games are a really fun and efficient way to learn when you have a short period of time. They enable a group of people with different backgrounds and diverse individual knowledge to come away with a common understanding.

Our game simulated the complex reality faced by all individuals trying to make a living in marginalised areas that have climate risk. It allowed us all to be on the same page, regardless of position – on that day we were all poor farmers struggling to eke out a living against the uncertainty and risk of climate change.

We all had plenty of ‘Aha!’ moments on that day. Many were able to understand the wider implications of climate change and also what that means for them as individuals and for them on the job. I learnt that many staff in the office have great insights into the climate change challenge.

I hope they will continue to share and dialogue across the office. I hope also that because it was fun, it will stick in everyone’s minds.

The Green team showed just how much the Embassy was already doing to green operations and raise awareness not just in the embassy but in schools in Dushanbe! By the end of their presentation everyone was inspired to set out personal and team commitments for the rest of the year.

Of course Robin, the Ambassador and Bob, DFID Head of office set a good example by making a few commitments themselves and pledging to continue leading and driving the SPR process. I have no doubt that with such a dedicated team, the central Asia team will go a long way in meeting or even exceeding corporate compliance targets!

I for one left the Central Asia region inspired and with a sense that I was able to make a real contribution. I would like to thank all the people who made my visit so memorable. The whole office was so warm, welcoming and enthusiastic! I have to say that is rare for us climate change advisors to experience – and what a joy!

So yes, talking climate change is fun and relevant for all of us. I will certainly keep talking about it and now I know DFID Central Asia has the tools to continue as well!