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for early warning in order to mitigate the impact of environmental hazard events.
The increase in hazard severity may well be beyond traditional indigenous coping
methods and beyond the scope of their own early warning systems. This stimulates
the need to have a representative dialogue and discourse when designing future
early warning systems that seek to integrate traditional knowledge systems and
epistemologies. As for many indigenous populations, the link between environmen-
tal loss and cultural degradation is deeply rooted - loss of the environment is seen
as losing a connection with their very identity and in turn their ancestors.
15.14
Consequences for Dignity, Survival
of Individuals, Particularly the Poor
Most of the groups discussed in this section have had a minimal voice in the politi-
cal dialogues surrounding climate negotiations, although it is clear that their lives
are severely impacted by the outcome of these negotiations. The approaches to
EWS in SIDS, impoverished agrarian societies and indigenous populations are all
initiatives that can be built on, and added to, in the future. For these vulnerable
populations, climate change is of great ethical signifi cance because the harms posed
to some of the most vulnerable people are disproportionately felt and their capacity
to respond to the expected increase in the frequency of natural disasters is dimin-
ished. As marginalized as these groups are, there remains extremely important
knowledge that can be gleaned from traditional practices in both early warning and
resilience. This needs to be a two-way street. An ethical exchange might be the shar-
ing of indigenous knowledge for increased protection through expanded EWS.
As vulnerability increases as a result of climate change, resilience will become
increasingly important, and EWS will be a more critical instrument in the response
to health safety and food security in many of these vulnerable populations.
15.15
The Challenge of Accepting Ethical Responsibility
Towards the Future, Near and Far
EWS as described and reviewed in this topic sits at the cusp of both immediate pro-
tection and planning and building sustainable mechanisms for future generations.
Knowing, as we do, that the present feeds and penetrates the future, our actions have
moral signifi cance that can resonate for years to come. Although EWS is perhaps
not as far reaching as the ethics of carbon reduction, it requires future planning and
initiative for events that have not occurred, have or only partly occurred. Much of
the future is beyond our grasp, and many decisions made by public offi cials now
related to EWS can either expand or limit our options for disaster response and
recovery in the time ahead. We have an obligation to avoid closing options that
could affect the survival and well-being of current and future generations in the face
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