Countries need to work on their local-level strategies to help vulnerable communities adapt to the negative consequences of climate change, said experts. Speaking at a training workshop on climate change awareness and understanding among South Asian journalists on Friday in Lalitpur, Ajaya Dixit, director of Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, said that communities in various parts of the country have taken initiatives, such as construction of community-managed irrigation systems, based on their knowledge to address water scarcity in the agricultural sector. “The people are not waiting for someone to come and help them as climate change and other related factors are already causing erratic rainfall, floods and droughts,” he said. According to Dixit, to help the communities, the government and concerned authorities should add value to the local initiatives by investing in enhancing the capacities of the local communities. Moderating a session on ‘Climate change—cross boundary issues in South Asia’, Nepali Times Editor Kunda Dixit said that climate change is a political and economical issue—other than environmental—and that countries in the region need to work together to combat climate change impacts. “So far, glacier melting in the Himalayas is the only issue widely covered by the media in the region and beyond. However, there are many other climate-related national and regional-level issues that need to be reported by the journalists,” he said. Trans-boundary issues like emissions from black carbon that comes from the use of coal and firewood and contributes to climate change should be reported in the media, Dixit added. The seven-day workshop that kicked off on Friday is being organised by Panos South Asia with technical support from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development under the project ‘Enhancing climate change awareness and understanding amongst journalists in South Asia’. The programme is being organised as a part of the South Asia Climate Change Award Fellowships 2012 launched to support journalists to report on climate change in the region and understand climate-related issues from the regional perspective. More than 30 participants, including editors and journalists representing print, television, radio and web media in the region, are discussing the pressing issue. Posted on: 2012-08-25 09:17
