cc.alps - Climate change: thinking one step further! | Umweltbundesamt

Background and Goals

The climate change can be seen all over the world and it is particularly noticeable in the Alps. Politics, the economy and society have started to take measures either to adapt to changes in the climate or to mitigate them. The broad spectrum of measures includes snow guns, glacier films, avalanche baffle installations, renewable energies, passive houses and more public transport - these are all direct or indirect responses to climate change and its assumed impact. Yet not all the projects and technologies make sense and are sustainable. What effects will they have on nature and the environment? What are their social and economic repercussions?  Could it be that the ecological consequences of some climate programmes are even more severe than the impact of climate change itself?

While action is necessary, activism may well be detrimental. With this project, CIPRA wants to ensure that climate protection is shaped in such a way that it is in keeping with the principle of sustainable development. Climate response measures are to be put to the test.

The project has the following objectives or tasks:

1. Gathering, evaluating and communicating knowledge

In a first stage, the project will collect and document activities which have already been implemented. Advantage: Their impact is now already visible and can be evaluated scientifically. A group of international experts has defined fields of action and drawn up a rating system to evaluate climate response measures objectively and systematically. The criteria cover all three dimensions of sustainability: nature, society and the economy. The second stage will take the issue to the general public. CIPRA will use the scientific basis to raise awareness of the different impacts of climate change in the Alpine region. The aim of this PR work is to warn against those measures that do not comply with the principle of sustainability, but also to propagate those measures that are considered sustainable and exemplary.

2. The Climate in the Alps is much prized! The competition:

In May 2008 the project launched a competition across the Alps aimed at finding successful activities and projects relating to climate protection. All the contributions submitted will be posted in the internet and can be searched against a database. The cc.alps team has selected 34 projects, initiatives and activities that are good not only for the climate, but also for society, the environment and the economy. These good practice climate response measures were selected from the pool of all the measures submitted at the cc.alps competition or researched by the CIPRA in the various Alpine countries. All the measures were evaluated according to a system specially developed by cc.alps for that purpose.

3. Pilot regions for implementing the findings:

The results of the project are to be put to direct practical use. To this end, pilot regions are to be sought in the Alps which adopt a sustainable approach to the consequences of climate change. They are to illustrate by way of example how climate response measures in the Alpine region can be shaped in an eco-friendly way.

4. Disseminating knowledge:

With its ambitious project, CIPRA is building on the positive experience it gained with its "Future in the Alps" project completed in December 2007. As part of cc.alps, CIPRA will again first of all collect scientific data, then, in a second stage, make the findings and practical solutions available to the general public and to interested target groups. Useful information is published through workshops, conferences, publications and electronic media. In addition, stakeholders in the Alps have the possibility of establishing new contacts and exchanging their knowledge.

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