Sharing knowledge saves lives

Using the wrong communication channels and language to pass critical climate information to communities most vulnerable to extreme weather variability puts lives and livelihoods in jeopardy...

A pioneering exchange programme led by HFP to enable climate scientists and humanitarian policymakers develop an effective two-way dialogue is piloting projects in Kenya and Senegal. A report by HFP in collaboration with climate scientists shows that scientific data often fails to inform communities when to take early action.

For humanitarian agencies and communities to adapt their behaviour in response to climate change they need to know exactly what they are adapting to. However, sharing knowledge on climate change is hampered by major barriers between weather and climate scientists, on the one hand, and vulnerable communities, policy makers, and humanitarian and development organisations, on the other.

Samuel Carpenter Humanitarian Futures Programme, King’s College, London, UK samuel.carpenter@kcl.ac.uk ;

Emma Visman Humanitarian Futures Programme, King’s College, London, UK emma.1.visman@kcl.ac.uk ;

Arame Tall Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre, Dakar, Senegal arametall@gmail.com ;

Dominic Kniveton University of Sussex, UK d.r.kniveton@sussex.ac.uk are the authors of this report: http://bit.ly/LzCIYl

See also these films: A Kenyan Farmer’s Forecast http://vimeo.com/39827406 (also in Swahili: http://vimeo.com/40090861) and Talking Science, Talking Sense http://vimeo.com/28926128 (also in Wolof: http://vimeo.com/29527844 )