Innovative ‘out of the box’ approaches are needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change and to promote the effective and efficient use of otherwise scarce resources.

IOM in South Africa joined the United Nations agencies at the COP17 climate change conference currently under way in Durban this week, for collective engagement on climate change.

Dr. Erick Ventura, Chief of Mission for IOM, shared the organization’s simple yet innovative response to climate change through keyhole gardens – an intervention addressing both food insecurity and HIV vulnerability in migration affected communities.  Keyhole gardens are round waist-high vegetable gardens that are easy to maintain, especially for the sick and elderly people who are unable to bend down to a conventional garden plot. Built with readily available and recycled materials these gardens are resistant to cold and dry weather and provide fresh vegetables all year round. They can be watered using waste water (e.g.dishwater), which helps households conserve their limited water supplies.

“We cannot respond effectively to climate change without taking into account population dynamics”, asserted Mark Schreiner, Deputy Representative for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),  reflecting on the world population 7 Billion milestone and impact on environment.

Mpho Nenweli, Environment and Energy Manager, UN Development Programme shared lessons from a farming initiative in Nothern Cape, South Africa which has improved the life of 54 farmers and their dependants.

“We are the future generation. We are the people who this global warming is going to affect. We are the future scientists. We are the future doctors who are going to have to deal with diseases because of global warming,” said a young representative from the United Nations Children’s Fund.

“This session showcased trailblazing work on mitigation approaches and technology innovations which have implications for improving the plight of those most affected by the impacts of climate change, as well as community level adaptation endeavours which have up-scaling potential,” said Dr Agostinho Zacarias, Resident Representative of UNDP South Africa.

“It is important to harness the potential of stakeholder groups through innovative information, education and communication approaches, as well as science and technology to address climate change impacts and sources,” he added.

Zacarias concluded that the information gleaned all feeds into the future work of UN country teams, to help programme countries come up with climate change responses in a more coordinated and systematic manner.