About the climate change group

We know that climate change disproportionately affects the poorest people in the world, who not only have the least capacity to respond and adapt to such rapid environmental change, but are historically the least responsible for its causes. In conjunction with our partners, we seek to secure an equitable deal for the poorest communities in developing countries who are exposed to increasingly severe and unpredictable weather events that can devastate communities, destroy livelihoods and exacerbate poverty.

Our climate change group has been leading the field on adaptation to climate change issues since its inception as a discrete programme in 2001.

Our main aims include:

• Improving the understanding of climate change impacts for developing countries including both policy makers and poor groups;
• Improving the decision making capacities in vulnerable developing countries to cope with impacts of climate change;
• Improving the negotiating capacities of developing countries in the international climate change negotiations through analysis of issues relevant to them;
• Improving the sustainable livelihoods opportunities of poor communities in developing countries in light of climate change impacts.

The focus and approach of the programme is:

• To work in collaboration with partner organisations and individuals in developing countries;
• To work in partnership with collaborating institutions and individuals in the developed countries for advocacy on behalf of the poor communities in developing countries;
• To ensure that lessons learned from research and analysis are transmitted effectively to policy makers in developing as well as developed countries;
• To mainstream climate change concerns into national strategies and policies in relevant sectors;
• To ensure both south-south and north-south flows of relevant information.

The priority themes of the programme are:

• Enhancing adaptation capacity in developing countries;
• Climate Change and sustainable livelihoods linkages in developing countries;
• Capacity strengthening in developing countries;
• Information dissemination;
• Promoting equitable and southern-based solutions to climate change;
• Enhancing opportunities for developing countries to take advantage of opportunities offered for Carbon Trading.