CCRP 14: Strategy Guide on Climate Change Implications and Strategies for the Community Sector

Summary: Strategy Guide on Climate Change Implications and Strategies for the Community Sector

It is becoming increasingly clear that climate change is having and will continue to have a profound effect on all aspects of human life. What is also becoming clearer is that these effects will be felt most deeply by those who are living in poverty and with social exclusion and inequality. These are the people and communities that are traditionally least responsible for climate change but they are also the people and communities with the least ability to adapt and respond to the effects of climate change.

The approach taken in this study was designed to build a process of engagement between the community sector and the issue of climate change. It included:

• Desk research and a literature review
• Participative workshops based around discussions of different socio-economic scenarios (developed for this process) associated with climate change in Ireland

This report argues that the community sector has a unique contribution to make in relation to climate change in Ireland. It sets out a threefold argument directed at the community sector outlining why it needs to engage in climate change in terms of:

1. Raising awareness within communities
2. Upskilling of the communities with which it works
3. Ensuring that policy development in this area takes account of the fact that climate change policies are likely to have a disproportionate impact on those already struggling with poverty and disadvantage