NAME: ROOP SINGH
ROLE: CLIMATE RISK ADVISOR
ORGANIZATION: RED CROSS RED CRESCENT CLIMATE CENTRE
Perspectives: What is the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and what is your role there?
RS: The Climate Centre is like a think tank for the Red Cross Red Crescent movement on climate issues. It might not be immediately obvious why the Red Cross works on climate issues, but if you think about it, the Red Cross is the first to respond when there’s a disaster and increasingly it’s extreme climate events which are creating those disasters. At the Climate Centre we work on the effects of climate change through both practice and policy. We connect what’s happening at the very local level through our disaster management work with what’s happening in the global space with policies like the Paris Agreement.
My role is to act as an intermediary, connecting the science to what it means for the people we work with on the ground. Most recently my work has centered around the issue of heat waves.
Perspectives: What does your work on heat waves entail?
RS: One of the most certain impacts of climate change is that temperatures will increase in all land areas. If we reach the 1.5°C of warming described by the IPCC report, we know that heat waves will increase in intensity and duration around the world. We’ll see them in the Global North and increasingly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America where many countries do not have the appropriate systems in place to deal with heat waves. One of the things we are trying to do is focus research on how heat affects people in different parts of the world. We are also working on ways to catalyze action around heat wave preparation locally on the ground. Our National Societies work with cities to create heat wave early action plans and to develop public messaging campaigns on the issue. The thing about heat waves is you don’t need tons of money to save lives during an emergency; it can be as simple as ensuring elderly people have access to drinking water and opening cooling centers, which the Vietnam Red Cross is now doing.
Perspectives: What other effects of climate change should we be thinking about?
RS: Another trend we see alongside climate change is increasing urbanization. Oftentimes, when people are affected by natural disasters, they move from rural to urban areas and end up living in informal settlements around urban cores. These growing urban slums become hot spots of risk during disasters. We can plan for this future by asking our urban planners to take this phenomenon into account, especially as climate change exacerbates the issue.
Perspectives: How did you come to work in climate change?
RS: I’ve been interested in environmental issues ever since high school and had very impactful teachers who encouraged me to pursue that passion. I majored in atmospherics science and meteorology in college, but quickly realized I didn’t want to be behind a desk doing forecasting research when there were so many pressing climate issues I could affect now. In graduate school, I came across the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and it seemed like the perfect place for me to use my scientific background to work on climate change policy and on the ground work.
Perspectives: What does a typical day for you look like?
RS: There’s not really a typical day as much of my work is project-based, which is just the nature of adaption work and the funding cycle. I work across a global team of about 40 people who are all based in different societies or universities. We don’t really see each other in person unless we’re at an event! I’m often coordinating with my colleagues via calls in the morning and then have my afternoons for actually “getting things done.” I do travel from time to time, but we try to be very intentional about our travel needs to keep our carbon emissions as low as can be on that front. If there’s a conference or event somewhere, we do our best to send someone who is already in that region.
Perspectives: What’s your favorite part of the job?
RS: When I get to interact with people on the ground. I was recently in Bangladesh where we were working on creating a heat wave action for Dhaka and one of the first aid volunteer coordinators invited me to give a training to local volunteers on heat wave preparation. It was really wonderful to interact with all these young people who care about climate change and want to work on the issue.
Perspectives: Do you have any advice for current students who also want to work in the climate space?
RS: I’ve been working at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre for five years now and sometimes it’s hard because there are things outside your control, occurring on a global level, which can make it difficult to stay inspired. But when you see other people in the field and stay connected to what’s happening on the ground, it’s easier to keep going and stay positive. This is important because working on climate change can be depressing. But I’m constantly inspired by the youth action on this issue, like the Fridays for Future marches, and by my colleagues. So stay connected to your peers in graduate school because you’re the ones who are going to make the change happen that’s needed!
As narrated to Yifan Powers, Senior Editor, SAIS Perspectives.
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PHOTO CREDIT: "Red Cross Hq_01" by US Department of State is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0