the Problem with climate-related disasters is so great that we have a hard time meeting it, and it is growing so fast that we don’t really keep up, ” says Maarten van Aalst , director of the international Red cross klimatcenter.
He has near twenty years of experience in humanitarian work and now he is in place at the climate summit in Katowice to tell you about the challenges caused by climate change as organisations are faced with.
According to Maarten van Aalst has the organization’s working methods in a short time changed as a result of climate change. In the big move; to be ready for more disasters, to prevent them by, for example, to build walls against the sea, that especially climatic disasters can be anticipated and a lot of work to be done before instead of after the disaster.
with the meteorologists and can act even when extreme weather events are on the prognosstadiet.
– for example, In Uganda, we saw that many times was followed flooding of the outbreak of cholera, in which many fell ill, which led to a costly problem, ” says Maartin van Aalst.
– Now we can turn out maybe two weeks before a flood, and install water tanks and chlorine tablets so that the cholera outbreak is avoided.
working on prevention saves both money and human suffering. Maartin van Aalst is on the COP24 to raise awareness on how climate change is already causing disasters.
– There is something for emitters to consider. They are often generous supporters of the us when the disaster happens, but it is better to prevent disasters.
has several contributing factors, first, that extreme weather is increasing and that sea levels are rising, but also to an increasing number of people living in coastal locations, both in Bangladesh as in Florida.
– the Difference is that in the united states, it is an expensive cocktail-making, in the developing countries, it is a deadly mix, ” notes Maartin van Aalst.