What is adaptation to climate change? What are the challenges facing countries in adapting to climate change? Adaptation involves a process of sustainable and permanent adjustment to climate change and has clear policy links to economic development, poverty reduction, and disaster management strategies. Successful adaptation policies will require long-term thinking and consideration of climate change impacts at international, national, regional, local and community levels. Adaptation planning must consider vulnerabilities to climate change, appropriate technologies, capacity, and local coping practices as well as government policies and actions.
Global warming is already having an effect on increases in mean temperatures, shifts in seasons, and the intensity of extreme weather conditions. These effects and others will worsen in the future. Millions of people, especially in developing countries, will be affected by water and food shortages, greater health risks, inundation of coasts, and increased frequency and severity of cyclones and hurricanes. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded in 2007 that unavoidable impacts from climate change go beyond current coping capacity and societies and ecosystems must implement adaptation measures. Adaptation is defined broadly by the IPCC as ‘adjustment in natural or human systems to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities’.
Uncertainty dominates all of the approaches aimed at understanding and predicting the potential impacts of climate change. However, climate change will affect every aspect of society, the environment and the economy. Human behaviour, livelihoods, infrastructure, laws and policies, and institutions will be affected. It is also important to note that different societies have different adaptive capacities. Further:
- Climate change is a direct threat to sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
- Despite clear links between adaptation and disaster risk management, the two approaches are supported by different sets of institutions, methodologies and policy frameworks
- The costs of adaptation are high. The UN Climate Change Secretariat has estimated that by 2030 developing countries will require 28 to 67 billion USD to enable adaptation to climate change. Current global funding for adaptation is at a fraction of the amount needed.
Adaptation is not a ‘stand-alone’ issue. It will need to be integrated into all development planning. Successful adaptation policies will require long-term thinking and consideration of climate change impacts at international, national, regional, local and community levels.
- Adaptation strategies must be robust against a range of future climate outcomes in order to cope with uncertainty
- Adaptation will require substantial funding, but there are many difficulties in estimating costs
- Reducing the vulnerability of poorer countries to climate change and ensuring that development assistance does not lead to maladaption is essential
- Citizen awareness and participation is necessary to sustain and prioritise climate change actions
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP) has established a framework for developing National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs)
- COP has also established two special funds, the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) to assist developing countries to carry out NAPAs, and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) to finance projects related to adaptation.
