Anna Gero, Jodi Thiessen, Professor John Daly,
Dr Juliet Willetts, Stephanie Fletcher, Michele Rumsey
WHO CC UTS is partnering with the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) in a one year research project funded by Australia's National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. The aim of the project is to inform policy makers about how climate change is likely to impact on Australia’s capacity to respond to disasters in the Pacific, and how the emergency and humanitarian responses of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) will also be affected by a changing climate.
The primary objectives of the research are:
- To provide recommendations to policy makers and practitioners in the Australian and Pacific disaster and emergency response sectors on current adaptive capacity of PICs in relation to climate related disasters, and what resources are likely to be needed in the coming years to enhance this capacity; focusing on the immediate humanitarian needs post-disaster, including health care; food and nutrition; water and sanitation and psychosocial needs.
- To understand the Australian emergency services and related organisations’ capacity and obligations to assist PICs in times of disaster and whether there is adequate capacity to meet future needs due to a changing climate, allowing for better planning and thus more effective response in times of disaster.
