"The image of climate change is the polar bear. I like polar bears, too, but that is the wrong image. The image of climate change is a poor farmer, and she is a woman and she is desperate".

Climate change is already affecting people’s ability to live long and healthy lives, to make livelihood choices for a decent standard of living, to be empowered, to voice their concerns in shaping policies and institutions, to participate knowledgeably in decisions that affect current and future generations, and for human dignity and self-respect. Climate change may not just delay the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, but also contribute to reversals in human development gains that have been hard won. There are also more immediate and serious implications: the very survival of vulnerable groups – for people living in densely populated conditions, island and coastal populations – as natural resources, like water, essential for survival, become harder to manage.

This E-Discussion foreshadows the forthcoming Asia-Pacific HDR on Climate Change by posing key questions from a human development stand-point. What are the ideas and vision that we can have for a carbon free society in the region? What are the real-life examples of the impacts of climate change? Why is the debate so polarized – is it a rich-country poor country issue or a rich-poor issue? Who are the most affected and how are they coping? What are the experiences on the ground that have policy implications for responding to climate change?

This forum aimed to explore some of these critical issues. The opening message (4th February 2010) and the introductory message (5th February 2010) provided some background information on the discussion. Thank you to all Network Members for contributing to a solution oriented dialogue and for sharing experiences, success stories and key studies.

Cartoons developed by Ruwan Tharaswin