Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694859799139.pdf (Australia)
Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade Inquiry into the implications of climate change for Australia’s national security Formed in 1987 CARE Australia has a special focus on gender equality to bring lasting development to communities.

CARE Australia has earned an international reputation for our innovative, sustainable and effective long-term development projects and our ability to respond quickly to emergency situations.
CARE Australia is a member of the CARE International confederation of 14 autonomous members working in 94 countries undertaking development assistance and disaster relief.

The primary geographic focus of CARE Australia is the Pacific and South-East Asia where we manage all programs and activities of the CARE International confederation in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
We work with partners in a further eight Pacific nations: Fiji, Kirabati, Marshall Islands, Nieu, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu.

In addition, CARE Australia undertakes development assistance and disaster response activities in another 16 countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide input to the consideration of the impact of climate change on Australia’s security.
CARE Australia’s response to this inquiry has particular regard to terms of reference focused on the humanitarian response to climate change and the roles of Australia’s overseas development assistance in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Recommendations Develop a human security approach to responding to climate change, working cross- sectors and focusing on gender equality and resilience.
Support approaches to enable communities prepare and respond to the impacts of climate change through development initiatives.

Ensure gender analysis is applied in the development of any programs responding to climate change.

Ensure women are included in leadership of community resilience and response programs.
Implications of climate change for Australia's national securitySubmission 57 The costs of climate change from 2010-2050 are estimated at $USD 22 billion for East Asia and the Pacific, and $USD 14 billion for South Asia.1 Changes in climate are increasing risks of death, injury and ill-health; of disputed livelihoods; risk of food insecurity and the breakdown of food systems, particularly for poorer populations; and the loss of rural livelihoods due to increased clean water scarcity.2 As the Defence White Paper argues, countries have a responsibility to act in a way that constructively contributes to global stability, security and prosperity.3 Australia can ‘help support the development of national resilience in the [South Pacific] region to reduce the likelihood of instability’.4 Climate change and disaster impacts are not gender neutral.
Unequal access to resources, rights, and opportunities between men and women mean they experience the impacts of climate change and disasters differently.

In recent years we have witnessed a significant rise in the frequency and severity of extreme weather and climate-related disasters directly and negatively impacting vulnerable people.

Climate change amplifies the risks facing people who are already marginalized due to inequalities.
At the centre of CARE’s concern is transforming the drivers perpetuating vulnerability and injustice by focusing on human dignity and increasing gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Effectively responding to climate change requires Australia to strengthen the linkages between defence, development, and humanitarian interventions, and to primarily focus on mitigation and adaptation through the development program.
Such a human security approach recognises the linkages between human and national security.5 The approach requires cross-sectoral responses to climate change, combining the agendas of security and defence with human rights and peace and a focus on prevention and resilience.
The United Nations notes ‘a comprehensive and integrated approach helps reduce the social, political, economic and environmental consequences of climate change.’ Australia can more effectively respond to climate change, particularly in our region, by prioritizing development funding.

Humanitarian responses In the decade up to 2014, disasters have continued to exact a heavy toll across the world with over 700 thousand lives lost, 1.7 billion people affected and economic losses of $USD 1.4 trillion.
It is estimated while 70 per cent of deaths are caused by earthquakes, climate- related disasters now account for over 80 per cent of all disaster events and contribute enormously to economic losses and short and long-term population displacement.6 1 Habtezion, S Gender and Climate Finance: Policy Brief Asia-Pacific, 2 UNDP, 2013 2 As referenced by CARE International 2015 and beyond: Action for a just, gender-equitable and sustainable future 2014 3 Australian Government Defence White Paper 2016, p. 45 4 Defence White Paper, p. 48 5 United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security http://www.un.org/humansecurity/about-human- security/human-security-all accessed August 2017 6 UNISDR The economic and human impact of disasters in the last 10 years.
2015 http://www.unisdr.org/files/42862_economichumanimpact20052014unisdr.pdf Page 2 of 5 Implications of climate change for Australia's national securitySubmission 57 CARE responded to Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu (2015) and Cyclone Winston in Fiji (2016).

We also responded in Timor-Leste, PNG, Vietnam and Cambodia to the 2015-2016 El Nino droughts.
Our emergency responses pay specific attention the different needs of women, men, boys and girls and we find in the poor communities in which CARE works, natural disasters disproportionately affect women.

CARE Australia specifically works with communities to assist and plan for emergencies.

For example, in the low-lying islands of Vanuatu, we support communities to develop evacuation plans in the event of a tsunami or cyclone.
This enables communities to be equipped to both respond to and survive emergencies, now and in the future.

Communities are also assisted to rebuild after disasters by constructing stronger homes in safer places, with access to sustainable livelihoods, health, and social services.

This work is two-fold: helping to ensure the protection of communities from any dangers they may immediately face and reducing future disaster risk.
Following Cyclone Pam a study was undertaken to document the benefits of preparedness in the disaster response.
A key finding was that being able to receive early warnings is not enough, and people need knowledge of appropriate actions and ongoing support to keep this knowledge up to date.7 Also the communities that had DRR programming before Pam experienced less damage and loss than those that had not had DRR support, even when they experienced the comparable wind strength.8 A copy of the study is attached.
Noting the increasing severity and duration of humanitarian crisis associated with climate change, ongoing preparedness and responsiveness programs for vulnerable communities are needed.

Overseas Development Assistance – mitigation and adaptation Climate change impacts can seriously affect development results, in some cases completely reversing any gains that have been made.
Therefore CARE integrates climate change adaptation into our programming because we recognise the poorest communities are suffering the most, and most quickly, from climate change.

CARE believes integrating climate change adaptation into poverty-reduction projects increases their sustainability and impact, especially in highly sensitive sectors such as water, agriculture, and health.

CARE’s community-based adaptation projects address the impacts of climate change on livelihoods and disaster risk.
We also address the underlying causes of poverty and social marginalisation.

CARE focuses on empowering vulnerable people with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to effectively adapt to the impacts of climate change.

CARE has implemented adaptation projects in Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

7 Webb, J et al Does gender responsive disaster risk reduction make a difference?

2017 p.39 8 Webb, J et al Does gender responsive disaster risk reduction make a difference?
2017 p.40 Page 3 of 5 Implications of climate change for Australia's national securitySubmission 57 The project ‘Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change’ (CBA CC) in the Nissan District of PNG was launched in mid-2012 to increase the community adaptive capacity and resilience to existing hazards and the impacts of climate change.
Three years on, the project demonstrated raised capacity and resilience - with a strong positive impact on food security, organisational capacity, as well as progress towards more equitable gender relations at the household level.

The project’s implementation approach - using core groups trained in a wide range of agricultural techniques which then disseminated knowledge across all villages - was found to be highly effective.
The merit of these groups is recognized by local government, which plans to integrate them into formal governance structures.

The process of adaptation to both climate change and challenges in natural resource management takes time, and while the project provided solid groundwork, further efforts are required to sustain the livelihoods of the people on Nissan and Pinepal islands into the future.
This concerns both structural measures (additional rainwater tanks) as well as organisational strengthening - capacity-building of the Nissan District Administration (NDA) is seen as particularly crucial to further raise the islanders’ adaptive capacity.

Gender equality Gender inequalities mean women are more likely to suffer the consequences of climate related disasters.

Focussing on gender equality through development, diplomatic and security work can reduce this toll.
Engaging women as well as men in responding to climate change makes mitigation and adaptation more effective.

In addition, over the medium term, greater gender equality, through women’s greater control over their reproductive and sexual lives, is likely to reduce the effects of climate change.
In the Pacific, women are more likely to be killed by disasters compared to men and are more susceptible to sexual and gender based violence, recording one of the highest rates globally in the aftermath of a disaster.9 In rural areas vulnerable to food security disasters and climate shocks and where the predominant occupation and income source for many households is agriculture, there is often a marked gender division of labour across the Pacific which must be considered in any food and income related DRR programming.
Gendered analysis of agricultural production roles is critical for ensuring gender responsive DRR and climate adaptation work.

For example: In Timor-Leste women have the main responsibility for household food and water supplies and for specific agricultural tasks and for marketing vegetables.

Men tend to be responsible for raising and selling livestock.
Men do not usually help with the household work, resulting in women enduring heavy workloads, including the collection of fuel wood and water which can be very time consuming.10 At the same time, agricultural resources and services, including extension services or inputs in the aftermath of a disaster are often delivered by men and to men and male dominated 9 UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Time to Act on Gender, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: An overview of Progress in the Pacific Region with evidence from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa Nov 2016 10 Angie Daze & Julie Webb Livelihood Security in a Changing Climate CARE International, 2011, p.16 Page 4 of 5 Implications of climate change for Australia's national securitySubmission 57 agricultural sectors.
CARE designed and implemented dedicated training (sustainable agricultural techniques, home gardening), and supported the application of climate- resilient crops, sustainable water and land management practices, as well as risk mitigation, specifically for women.

As a result, female members of farmer groups have increased knowledge, skills and confidence to apply sustainable techniques learned, and to apply knowledge and skills to mitigate risk.
In PNG, women actively work alongside men in coffee production, but extension services and income is typically directed to and controlled by men.11 Core group members of the community-based adaptation project were configured to ensure equal representation from women, with members receiving training not only on technical aspects of the project, but also in leadership and gender equality.

This helped members (in particular, women) to gain influence at the household and community level.
There is increasing recognition greater gender equality, particularly through women’s greater control over their own sexual and reproductive lives, will assist in reducing the impacts of climate change.12 As Australia’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security notes women ‘are central to rebuilding society through relief and recovery efforts.’13 Women play an essential role in tackling the climate change challenge.
If we can address and transform gender inequalities through climate change and disaster risk reduction initiatives, we can promote the equal rights of women, but also multiply the sustainable impact of climate-related activities.
11 Josie Huxtable and Gianluca Nardi Seed to Cup: Empowering Women Coffee Farmers CARE International, March 2015, p.6-7 12 Paul Hawken (ed) Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, 2017 13 Australian National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2012-2018 Page 5 of 5 Implications of climate change for Australia's national securitySubmission 57