Climate change adaptation

Can the Adaptation Committee find opportunity in adversity?

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a pause in climate negotiations, but it need not be time wasted. Binyam Gebreyes and Emilie Beauchamp consider how the Adaptation Committee is seizing the moment to tackle existing challenges, and how it could go further

Daily updates: CBA14 – The 14th International Conference on Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change

CBA14 is the leading practitioner-focused forum on climate change adaptation, delivering dialogue and evidence to inform policy and action, from the local to the global scale. Read our daily reports from CBA14 below. 

Why we need to plug the climate information gap in social protection schemes

Being prepared to respond to hazards can dramatically reduce risks of livelihood loss for India’s rural poor

CBA14 Setting the stage: from crisis to climate action

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced communities to adapt quickly. What can we learn from their experience that can inform community-led adaptation in the future?

Transitioning to a better global ‘new normal’

COVID-19 has changed our world. To mark Earth Day 2020, and the global call to act on climate change, we ask: what lessons can we apply from the pandemic response to help tackle other global crises, including the climate emergency?

Is adaptation the missing ingredient from the new UN biodiversity action plan?

This week governments from across the world will meet in Rome to discuss the first draft of a new global action plan to tackle biodiversity loss. Dilys Roe asks whether there is something missing from the agenda

Monitoring climate change adaptation: the importance of linking global and national reporting

The Paris Agreement provides a foundation for the most robust climate change transparency system to date. IIED research has identified ways to improve this reporting by aligning global and national activity

Towards better assessment of adaptation results

How can countries align their climate adaptation assessment mechanisms with other frameworks? Barry Smith highlights opportunities for achieving effective adaptation monitoring and evaluation

How the Philippines’ national M&E system integrates climate and development

IIED has undertaken a series of 'light touch' case studies to show how some countries are developing adaptation M&E for learning systems. This study looks at the Philippines. 

Assessing climate adaptation in Mexico

IIED has undertaken a series of 'light touch' case studies to show how some countries are developing adaptation M&E for learning systems. This study looks at Mexico. 

Supporting adaptation through local-level climate finance: lessons from Kenya

Kenya’s transformational County Climate Change Fund (CCCF) mechanism demonstrates how to get climate funds to the local level and involve the people who are most vulnerable to the hazards of a changing climate in deciding how to spend them

LDC 2050 Vision for a climate-resilient future

The world's least developed countries have set out their response to the climate challenge, with a long-term vision for 2050 that aims to ensure that no country is left behind

To stay ahead of climate change, cities need to act now

How can cities in low- and middle-income countries address climate change risks? IIED's David Satterthwaite looks at the challenges facing city governments across the world

Adapting to climate change in Europe: building a systemic and urgent vision

The fourth European Climate Change Adaptation conference takes place in Lisbon later this month. Susannah Fisher and Andrew Norton argue that researchers can play an important role in raising Europe’s ambitions on adaptation by highlighting whole systems approaches and transformative public narratives

Book summary: Resilience – The Science of Adaptation to Climate Change

The term ‘resilience’ – one of today’s hottest buzzwords in climate and development – comes under the spotlight in a new book that includes a chapter IIED’s Saleemul Huq has co-authored with researchers Yousuf Mahid and Nadine Suliman from the International Centre for Climate Change and Development

"Follow the science": Least Developed Countries Group lead negotiator

The chair of the UNFCCC Least Developed Countries Group, Gebru Jember Endalew, called for climate action to be guided by science when he spoke at the closing of Development and Climate Days 2018

Development and Climate Days 2018

This year's Development and Climate (D&C) Days event explored four themes that are vital for delivering climate resilience for all

Delivering climate finance at the local level: the Dema Fund

This case study looks at how the Dema Fund supports community action to protect the Brazilian Amazon. The fund reaches geographically remote communities that are largely excluded from social programmes and government services, including indigenous peoples, Afro-Brazilian communities, subsistence farmers and women

Delivering climate finance at the local level: the Babacu Fund

This case study looks at how the Babacu Fund is delivering climate finance to landless palm nut collectors in the Brazilian Amazon. The fund is supporting remote communities that conventional development interventions are failing to reach, and is giving these communities the opportunity to prioritise investments that will make the greatest difference to them

Q&A: Why indigenous seed-saving women are the stewards of biodiversity

In the latest in a series highlighting how women around the world are safeguarding biodiversity, Krystyna Swiderska discusses how women are sustaining biodiverse farming by combining traditional knowledge and innovation to protect local seed systems

Addressing the political and technical challenges of measuring adaptation

Susannah Fisher outlines the challenges that need to be addressed in order to effectively measure progress on adaptation as part of the first global stocktake in 2023

Webinar: Benefits of investing in national monitoring and evaluation systems

Join our webinar on 2 Oct 2018 to discuss how developing countries can benefit from investing in national M&E systems for climate change adaptation - and go beyond narrow project or indicator-based monitoring systems.

Assessing adaptation and development progress

Countries need to know whether their efforts to adapt to climate change are working. The first in a new series of webinars discussed approaches that can help governments assess their progress

The International Centre for Climate Change and Development

Building long term capacity for adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh and across the Global South

Tiempo

Tiempo was a printed bulletin published quarterly by IIED and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Responding to climate change in Kenya by strengthening dryland governance and planning

The Kenya Adaptation Consortium is demonstrating that local climate adaptation planning, supported by county government-managed devolved funds, informed by community priorities and enhanced by climate information services, renders significant benefits for people in poor and marginalised households in the most drought prone areas

Book summary: Enhancing Adaptation to Climate Change in Developing Countries Through Community Based Adaptation

IIED's Saleemul Huq contributes to a chapter in a new book, 'Enhancing Adaptation to Climate Change in Developing Countries Through Community-Based Adaptation', published by the African Centre for Technology Studies and partners. 

Call for feedback: inventory of tools to support ecosystem-based adaptation

IIED, IUCN, UNEP-WCMC and GIZ are seeking feedback on an inventory of ecosystem-based adaptation tools, designed to help practitioners and policymakers incorporate EbA into climate adaptation planning

Monitoring and evaluation in a local context

Assessing how climate change adaptation and development investments can strengthen local people's resilience to climate extremes

Accessing climate finance in Kenya

Devolved powers are allowing communities greater access to climate finance in four counties in Kenya

The Paris Agreement – a framework for local inclusion

The Paris Agreement commits governments to climate action. To deliver this agenda successfully, they must engage with all sectors of society, including indigenous peoples, and recognise traditional knowledge

Local climate finance mechanism helping to fund community-prioritised adaptation

County and local governments in the drylands of Kenya, Mali, Senegal and Tanzania have established local-level climate adaptation funds with technical support from IIED and government and non-government organisations. These funds improve their readiness to access and disburse national and global climate finance, supporting community-prioritised investments to build climate resilience

Climate finance from the aid budget must also deliver on poverty

The UK has promised to increase funding for climate finance up to 2020, but if this money comes from the aid budget, how can we be sure that climate spending will also deliver on poverty eradication and the sustainable development agenda?

Insuring farmers – adapting to climate change

Climate change is increasing the risks for farmers, but a new form of insurance may provide support

The political economy of financing climate resilient development

IIED is undertaking a three-year research programme to understand the policy linkages between the two themes of climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries. This research focuses on countries that are investing in what has been termed 'low-carbon climate resilient development' (LCRD) – policies and strategies that address the challenges posed by climate change in an integrated response.

Conflict resolution: a key part of adaptation in North Darfur

As CBA9 gets under way in Nairobi, Kenya, Jodi Sugden from Practical Action highlights how work on conflict resolution is a key part of the adaptation process

Award win highlights collaboration for Kenya climate resilience

A consortium working to support climate change adaptation in Kenya has won a prestigious UK award. The Adaptation Consortium is a partnership of six organisations, including IIED

How to measure a global goal for adaptation?

Climate negotiators are discussing how to set a global goal for climate change adaptation. It's important for the negotiators learn from experiences and evidence gained at country level – so they can develop a goal that reflects differing national realities

From knowledge to action – how top down training is driving bottom-up resilience in Tanzania

Supporting government engagement with communities in Tanzania has identified three key ways in which the government can improve climate resilient planning

Recognising the concerns of women and girls can improve the effectiveness of climate change adaptation

Including the perspectives and experiences of women and girls in monitoring and evaluation can lead to better outcomes for climate change adaptation measures, IIED research has found

Development and Climate Days event at COP20 focuses on zero-zero

An IIED-hosted event looks at how to get to zero poverty and zero emissions within a generation

Why the private sector must be included in efforts to curb deforestation

Making the links between green supplies chains, zero deforestation and the private sector at COP20 in Lima

How are Rwanda, Ethiopia and Bangladesh preparing for climate change?

Ethiopia, Rwanda and Bangladesh are developing their national low carbon climate resilient strategies. The public policy team within the Climate Change Group at IIED have just finished 18 months of research into these planning processes. The research helped clarify what is motivating countries to become more climate resilient. It also highlighted some ways these processes could be better supported and brought together.

The IPCC and an urbanising planet

The IPCC's Fifth Assessment gets the importance of understanding and acting on urbanisation

Who should use Tracking Adaptation and Measuring Development (TAMD)?

A key benefit of the TAMD framework is that it can be used by many different types of organisations for both evaluation and planning

The Tracking Adaptation and Measuring Development (TAMD) framework

The TAMD framework uses two key measures to measure adaptation success

Climate-related 'loss and damage' in cities: exploring a new urban frontier

Highlighting and assessing the urban impacts of climate change can help cities find a more consistent, multi-level approach to climate adaptation

A marriage to save the earth: Farmers and researchers innovate to conserve biodiversity

Traditional knowledge combined with the latest science could increase food production while safeguarding biodiversity, new research shows

Climate change and urban health

As well as increasing loss of life and injury from extreme events, climate change will exacerbate health risks from diseases that are among the main causes of premature death in informal settlements

Indigenous farmers from Peru, China and Bhutan agree to share seeds for climate adaptation

In the spirit of the International Year of Family and Peasant Farming, indigenous mountain farmers from China, Bhutan and Peru have agreed to share seeds in an effort to cope with global climate change

Kenya's new climate fund listens to community ideas for building resilience

"Climate consists of so many things to us," says Ibrahim Shone, a pastoralist in Isiolo County in Northern Kenya. "It's not only weather, it's also about how we prepare for droughts and diseases, and find enough grass for our animals. These things change with the seasons."

IIED statement on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has today published its latest report on the impacts of climate change and how to adapt to them

Least developed countries take climate adaptation to next level

While many policymakers in the world's richest nations continue to deny the urgency of action on climate change, governments in the 48 least developed countries are pushing ahead with plans to adapt – or at least trying to

Kenyan local climate fund's success heralds expansion to 29% of nation

A pilot project to support adaptation to climate change at the local level in Kenya's Isiolo County has been such a success that it is being replicated in four more counties, to cover a combined 29 per cent of the nation. The move is significant as it shows how county governments could access global climate finance, which is set to rise to US$100 billion a year by 2020.

Typhoon Haiyan shows why COP19 must deliver on loss and damage

Even the best of efforts to adapt to climate change may not be enough to prevent loss and damage, and that's why the UN climate talks need to agree a mechanism to handle this new issue, says Saleemul Huq.

To build climate resilience cities must assess diverse drivers of vulnerability

Three new studies from Vietnam show how research can help governments devise solutions that help their citizens adapt to the effects of climate change.

Least developed countries lead on low-carbon resilience

Some of the least developed countries are at the forefront of an approach that combines efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate change and achieve economic and social development.

Smallholder innovation for resilience (SIFOR)

IIED worked with partners in China, India, Kenya and Peru to revitalise traditional knowledge-based – or 'biocultural' – innovation systems of smallholder farmers in order to strengthen food security in the face of climate change. Traditional farmers continually improve and adapt their crops and farming practices in response to new challenges, using local knowledge and biodiversity, generating new technologies and practices

8 points on financing climate change adaptation in urban areas

As the urgency for governments and international agencies to address climate change increases, an expert meeting identified eight key points on finance priorities.

CBA7: Highlights from day three

Missed our live blog and webcast? Here are some highlights from the third day of the 7th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation

Challenging inequality is at the heart of climate change adaptation

People won’t become more resilient to the impacts of climate change unless the underlying causes of their vulnerability are analysed and addressed.

Vulnerable communities tackling climate change are our best teachers

The poorest communities (and poorest countries) are leading the world in learning about and practising adaptation to climate change. The rich would do well to learn from them.

Rwanda: test case on international commitment to financing climate change adaptation?

Rwanda hopes climate change will provide an opportunity to secure additional climate finance. Will its new finance mechanism succeed?

How do we tell whether climate change adaptation is making headway?

IIED and its partners are developing tailored frameworks to help developing countries evaluate their climate adaptation investments.

New fund to help Kenyan communities adapt to climate change

On 29 October, the government of Kenya will launch a new fund to help communities in the north of the country adapt to climate change and other development challenges.

Analysing the cost of adapting to climate change

How do you estimate the cost of adapting to the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities, and involve stakeholders in identifying the costs and benefits of the approaches identified?

CBA6: tweet by tweet and blog by blog

Given that the theme of the 6th International conference on community-based adaptation to climate change was communications, it's only fitting that participants embraced social media with open arms.

Where honey means money and climate means change

Ngan lives in a village called Ri in the remote highlands of Vietnam's Thanh Hoa province. It's beautiful. Everywhere you look is green-green-green, from the forested limestone mountains that look like the humps of long dead dragons to the flat sheets of emerald rice fields that shimmer in the sun.

Vietnam: Mangroves break waves and help the people of Dai Hop Commune break even

Well-fed women smile out from under their hats as they pull in their catch of fish, shrimp and crabs from the mangrove forest. The simple images are in an educational booklet on the benefits of mangroves, with tips on how to grow seedlings.

Taking the long view on adaptation

The impacts of climate change do not happen overnight but play out over decades. Funders looking to support people to adapt to those impacts must take the long view and accept that their investments may not provide measurable outcomes for ten years or more.

UN climate negotiations video update: Trying to find "common ground"

This is the last video update from Saleemul Huq, Senior Fellow of IIED's climate change group, from Durban, South Africa where high-level Ministers have arrived and are making statements.

Consensus grows behind the scenes at the UN climate negotiations

It’s too early to talk about the end-game in the 17th conference of parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks that are underway in Durban. But amid the shifting diplomatic sands of talks and texts, there are signs that some of the ground is starting to solidify.

Five-nation study sheds light on costs of adapting agriculture to climate change

Research in Africa and Asia has shown that efforts to assess the costs of adapting agriculture to a changing climate often fail to reflect the diversity of the sector.

Multi-billion dollar climate change fund hits barrier

Plans for a multi-billion dollar fund to help developing countries deal with climate change hit a big barrier this week when countries could not agree on the design of the fund.

Responding to climate change in the Caribbean

How can air travel contribute to the costs of adapting to climate change?

Climate change negotiators are still meeting this week in Bonn to try and find a way forward on, amongst many other subjects, climate change mitigation, adaptation and finance. Sources of ‘innovative’ finance, such as taxes on international transport, have been proposed. Might these provide a way to break the deadlock on finance and prove to be sources of significant and stable financing to address the impacts of climate change?

VIDEO: Saleemul Huq on new research into how communities adapt to climate change

In this short video Dr Saleemul Huq — senior fellow in IIED's Climate Change Group — talks about an international research project that is looking at how communities can adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The opportunities of climate change

It's not always a great idea to acknowledge that bad things can create opportunities – but they can. Bad things cause suffering and tragedy, but they can also destabilise the status quo, open space for new discussions, and give an impetus to groups looking for positive change.

Better science and communication needed to help vulnerable adapt to climate change

A major international conference in Bangladesh has ended with strong recommendations on how to help communities in developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Tiny flight tax could raise billions to protect people from climate change

A small tax on international airline tickets could raise US$10 billion a year to help people to adapt to the impacts of climate change, say economists at the International Institute for Environment and Development.

Adapting to climate change in Bangladesh

Climate adaptation: old wine in new bottles?

Reality check: climate change and the poor

Hannah Reid reports on a field trip to a site in Manikganj District, about three hours from Dhaka city in Bangladesh, to see how vulnerable people are coping with climate-change related impacts

Lessons from vulnerable communities show how to adapt to climate-change

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, will next week open an international conference at which more than 250 delegates will share the latest knowledge on how vulnerable communities can adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Afloat: Bangladesh adapts to climate change

'Afloat', a film from IIED and Panos, shows how in Bangladesh they are combining tradition and innovation to adapt to climate change

Storm watch for Cancun climate talks

Striking a deal at this month’s UN climate talks in Cancun, Mexico will largely depend on negotiators’ ability to settle stormy disputes, particularly between the developed and developing world, over six key issues.

Adaptation finance: Why not just give it to the poor?

A new book argues that the best approach to reducing poverty is the simplest: giving money to the poor. In Just Give Money to the Poor, Hanlon, Barrientos and Hulme argue that cash transfers put money directly in the hands of those that need it, and that the poor are both willing and capable of using the money to benefit themselves and their families. Given the uncertainties and pitfalls of spending money on climate change adaptation, could we do worse than simply giving money to the poor themselves?

4th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA4)

The 4th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA4) to climate change took place in February 2010 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Road to recovery: mapping a sustainable economy

The world has a unique but brief opportunity to tackle several major challenges. Evidence of the linked causes of financial, energy and climate crises, and not just their symptoms, is on the table

Expert Group Meeting on Population Dynamics and Climate Change

London. June 09 Papers from this meeting are now available as downloadable pdfs.

Least Developed Countries

Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are the poorest countries in the world. A number of criteria determine this status. As of May 2009, LDCs number 50. Roughly 65 per cent are in Africa; a number of others are known as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Many SIDS are low-lying and located in parts of the world already prone to extreme weather events, factors that make them highly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as sea level rise and fiercer and more frequent tropical storms.

Q&A: Admit

Highlights the key elements about this ethical and effective new way to compensate your carbon emissions and support adaptation, now in its pilot phase.

Just the beginning

Yvo de Boer, who runs the UNFCCC secretariat, laid out clearly where we are with agreement on the text in his inimitable laconic style: ‘We are near to the end of putting things in and near to the beginning of taking things out.’

Supporting Adaptation to Climate Change: What role for Official Development Assistance?

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has instigated several funding mechanisms in an attempt to meet adaptation needs in developing countries, however these funds have been heavily criticised by both the development and academic communities for being both fiscally and technically inadequate.