adaptation

By : Clive Mutunga and Karen Hardee

This paper reviews 41 National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) submitted by Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and identifies the range of interventions included in countries’ priority adaptation actions. The review found near-universal recognition among the NAPAs of the importance of population considerations as a central pillar in climate change adaptation.

Information Provided by Carol Lombard, Department of Social Development Population Website

Drylands cover 41 percent of the earth’s terrestrial surface. The urgency of and international response to climate change have given a new place to drylands in terms both of their vulnerability to predicted climate change impacts and their potential contribution to climate change mitigation. This book aims to apply the new scientific insights on complex dryland systems to practical options for development. A new dryland paradigm is built on the resources and capacities of dryland peoples, on new and emergent economic opportunities, on inward investment, and on the best support that dryland science can offer.

Information Provided by Carol Lombard, Department of Social Development Population Website

Attempts to clarify the relationship between adaptation and development by analyzing 135 projects, policies, and other initiatives from the developing world that have been labeled by implementers or researchers as "adaptation to climate change." Confusion about the relationship between adaptation and development has meant that funding mechanisms may create redundancies or leave gaps in the landscape of critical adaptation and development activities.

Drawing on Internet resources, Weathering the Storm attempts to clarify this relationship by analyzing 135 projects, policies, and other initiatives from the developing world that have been labeled by implementers or researchers as "adaptation to climate change."

The publication warns that the UN negotiations aimed at tackling climate change are based on substantial underestimates of what it will cost to adapt to its impacts. The real costs of adaptation are likely to be 2-3 times greater than estimates made by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Professor Martin Parry, a former co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and his co-authors look at the estimates from a range of perspectives, and conclude that:

• the current cost assessments do not include some key sectors, such as ecosystems, energy, manufacturing, retailing, and tourism

• some of the sectors included have been only partially covered in cost estimates
  

AfricaAdapt is an independent bilingual French/English network focused exclusively on Africa. The Network’s aim is to facilitate the flow of climate change adaptation knowledge for sustainable livelihoods between researchers, policy makers, civil society organisations and communities who are vulnerable to climate variability and change across the continent.

AfricaAdapt is available on AfricaAdapt Website