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Colombia, Witness to Climate Change

By Maria C. Valencia

In June 2009, the Internews Network, a global media development organization, launched the Earth Journalism Awards to honor professional or nonprofessional journalists promoting awareness of climate change issues. The winners will be announced at the COP15 conference in Copenhagen in December. Here, Maria C. Valencia and Ssekika Edward (previous article), two young earth journalists who are part of the Internews Network, report on the situation in their countries.

photo Sea level rise will affect the coastal population, the poorest in Colombia

I feel I have a responsibility to warn people about the expected impacts of climate change. If they understand its impact on the population and how this may affect them directly, many people would start to be proactive. However, it requires committed journalists who are able to do serious reporting and not just to follow scandals and tragedies. I have noticed a change, with the media becoming more focused on in-depth reporting. If the media creates networks and exchanges information for better reporting, there will also be more pressure on international climate change discussions for real compromises from every country.

Hope in Indigenous Practices

Over the past 10 years, José Domingo Caldon, a leader of the Coconuco Indian community from the Cauca region in the southwest of Colombia, has seen how the dry and rainy seasons are getting longer all the time.

Before, he says, the indigenous leaders could predict winter and summer, as well as the best time to cultivate and harvest fruits. Now, it is very different, as the weather changes from one day to the next and people can no longer predict when the best time to cultivate is. Many crops have been damaged. In response, this community is developing an adaptation plan to reduce the impact of climate change, with support from the United Nations and some local authorities. People will no longer be able to grow some of the crops they used to grow, which is encouraging a return to some of the traditional practices of cultivation.

"During the long summer there's no water, as some springs and streams have dried up," says José. He is very worried, but he also sees the situation as an opportunity for people to start respecting nature and reestablishing a balance with it.

"This is the responsibility of humans for not caring for and respecting the environment," he points out.

Colombia is significantly affected by climate change because of the warming of the Pacific Ocean. Increasing temperatures, rising sea levels and changing rain cycles are some of the changes the country is facing. While awareness of the threats posed by climate change may not yet be widespread among Colombians, it is an issue that affects everyone.

According to Colombia's Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies, natural disasters such as flooding, landslides, storms and fires impacted almost two million people in Colombia during 2008. The complex effects of climate change will increase and intensify the incidence of such extreme events, and the most strongly impacted will be the poorest and most vulnerable in society. The seriousness of this issue--and the importance of adaptation and mitigation efforts--becomes clear when one considers the human toll threatened by natural disasters.

Climate change is also changing the pattern and nature of agriculture in the high mountains, and there will be an increase in areas where mosquitoes that transmit malaria and other diseases can thrive. Coastal areas, home to some of the poorest communities in Colombia, are threatened by flooding.

For these reasons I try to focus on climate change in my reporting; this isn't just a matter for environmentalists to focus on, but also for civil society in general, economists, businesses and, of course, government. The Copenhagen climate summit in December 2009 offers a great challenge to every nation.

I have also modified my personal behavior as I learn about this phenomenon. I now try to use energy more efficiently and to recycle. I believe that if more people learn about what they can do at home to protect the environment, they will choose to change, especially young people, for whom changing habits might be easier and who, in the end, will be most affected by climate change.

Maria C. Valencia, age 33, is a Climate Change Media Partner and writes for El Tiempo in Bogotá, Colombia.

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