Page 44 - Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

Chapter 5. ICTs and climate adaptation

As climate change is taking its toll and scientific research suggests that it is time to talk about climate
crisis, rather than climate change, it is also “time to start talking less about the technology for
preventing global warming and more about the technology we will need to live with it”.
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Countries with long coastlines, most notably small-island developing states (SIDs), will face the
challenges of rising sea levels. According to the IPCC, it is virtually certain that the global sea levels
will continue to rise for centuries, beyond the year 2100. Yet even now, island nations such as Tuvalu
are already said to be disappearing – literally.
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Rising temperatures will have severe impacts on natural and human systems, leading to an increase
in the likelihood of droughts, wildfires, extreme rainfalls, floods and severe storms. Among many
expected consequences are food insecurity, the spread of infectious diseases and the increasing
number of climate refugees around the world. In this context, adaptation strategies and tools, which
are defined as adjustments in human and natural systems, in response to actual or expected climate
stimuli or their effects, that moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities, become as important
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as mitigation.

ICTs can help attempts to adapt to the impacts of climate change. They are powering a digital
innovation that can offer new opportunities for knowledge-sharing and the exchange of information.

Not surprisingly, ICTs are already being deployed to adapt to extreme weather and the impacts of
other natural hazards. They make vital climate information available to disaster respondents, who
would then be able to deliver early warnings to disaster-stricken areas and vulnerable groups in a
timely manner. ICTs can address food insecurity issues and be used in facilitating alternative financing

1 Lichfield, Gideon. “Welcome to Climate Change.” MIT Technology Review, 24 Apr. 2019, www .technologyreview .com/
s/ 613350/ welcome -to -climate -change/ .
2 Roy, Eleanor Ainge. ‘'One Day We'll Disappear': Tuvalu's Sinking Islands.’ The Guardian, 15 May 2019, www
.theguardian .com/ global -development/ 2019/ may/ 16/ one -day -disappear -tuvalu -sinking -islands -rising -seas -climate
-change.
3 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). ‘AR5 Synthesis Report: Climate Change.’ 2014. www .ipcc .ch/
report/ ar5/ syr/ .

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