Pablo Suarez

COP19: Pablo Suarez says mechanism needed to anticipate loss & damage

COP19 (16/11/13) – Pablo Suarez from the Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Centre talks about the strengths of the humanitarian sector and the wealth of expertise and knowledge they bring to these talks, particularly to the loss and damage discussions.

He speaks about the increasingly low capacity the humanitarian sector has to deal with disasters especially as climate science tells us to expect the intensity of these disasters to increase.

Suarez highlights the importance of climate science and that more interactive methods need to be used to educate people on it. His centre is trying to bridge the gap between what they know and what they do.

Its primary concern is for the care of people and minimising their suffering.

For this reason a real push needs to be made in mitigation and where mitigation is currently lagging, adaptation needs greater attention. Where there is neither there will be loss and there will be damage.

He says that the humanitarian sector are experts in loss and damage and that decision makers should engage them in discussions. He also stressed that conversations on loss and damage should not only take place in the aftermath of a disaster but a mechanism should be put in place to anticipate loss and damage before it.