Climate change adaptation

How can loss and damage finance reach those enduring climate catastrophe?

As global heating causes loss and damage to escalate rapidly, new and additional large-scale financing is needed to protect lives, livelihoods and ecosystems, especially in the poorest countries and communities. Clara Gallagher and Simon Addison explore some of the ways that different financial instruments might be layered to get the right kinds of finance to the right place at the right time to implement a variety of loss and damage measures

On the road to COP27 and a new climate finance goal – next stop: Manila

Next week, technical experts will gather in Manila to discuss a new global goal for post-2025 climate finance. Illari Aragon explores the issues that will be critical at the talks

Locally led adaption in practice: a community-based adaptation expert shares lessons

The principles for locally led adaptation have attracted international support – at the same time, community-based adaptation practitioners are pioneering innovative locally-led action around the world. Here, a practitioner talks about her experiences and the key questions for this year’s community-based adaptation conference in October.

How women leaders are getting better social protection for the vulnerable

Women leaders show the way for enhancing access to social protection and delivering climate resilience at scale

Achieving an inclusive approach to the Global Goal on Adaptation

The Glasgow-Sharm El Sheikh work programme is designed to advance action on the Global Goal on Adaptation. It’s crucial that civil society and local voices are incorporated to ensure the process is most inclusive. An IIED webinar explored how this could be achieved in practice

The Global Goal on Adaptation: how to make the GlaSS work programme inclusive

A series of experts discussed how the Glasgow-Sharm-el Sheikh work programme on the Global Goal on Adaptation can be fair and inclusive

Adaptation Research Alliance: accelerating adaptation action and solutions

As part of the Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) secretariat, IIED worked with partners to help catalyse action-oriented research for high-impact climate adaptation and resilience solutions

IIED at CBD COP15

What is CBD COP15? Our key research, commentary, analysis and events from the 2022 global biodiversity conference

Tackling loss and damage: who is most vulnerable to disaster displacement?

Drawing on recent research, Simon Addison and Sam Barrett explain why disaster displacement risk assessments must integrate better quality data on the specific vulnerabilities of different people to escalating climate risks

Tackling loss and damage in countries vulnerable to the effect of the climate crisis: improving evidence and co-generating pathways to impact

IIED is working with least developed countries, Small Island Developing States and representatives of vulnerable communities to develop a vision for practical action to address loss and damage caused by climate change

Can COP26 lay firm foundations for an ambitious new climate finance goal?

With negotiations for the post-2025 climate goal due to commence at COP26, we ask what lessons can be learned from the previous – unmet – target and explore the priority issues for least developed countries (LDCs), who will be seeking changes to both the volume and nature of the climate finance they receive

A glimmer of hope ahead of COP26 – financing for adaptation

A newly formed group of champion countries committed to ramping up flows of adaptation finance brings promise − provided they can also improve access, explains guest blogger Angelique Pouponneau

Locally-led nature-based solutions can deliver global leaders’ pledge

One year on from the launch of the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature – when political leaders committed to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 – Xiaoting Hou Jones, drawing on examples from the Least Developed Countries, sets out why locally-led nature-based solutions are indispensable for turning the pledge into action and delivering a green COVID-19 recovery

Accelerating adaptation finance

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IIED joins forces with the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership

IIED has recently become a member of the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership, a worldwide network of climate, humanitarian and development communities

Building wider support for ecosystem-based adaptation: how can communications help?

Evidence shows that ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) can help increase people's resilience and ability to adapt to climate change. However, policy-makers have not adopted this approach as widely as they could. Following a recent CBA15 event, Gabriela Flores outlines three ways communications could help increase EbA uptake.

Taking locally led adaptation global – episode 3 of podcast mini-series

This episode explores ways to align global climate finance systems more effectively with the real-life situations of people in communities and at the local level, to ensure successful locally led adaptation to climate change

From principles to practice: commitments from donor organisations – first episode of new podcast mini-series

At the start of 2021, 40 governments and leading organisations endorsed eight principles for locally led adaptation. As the number of endorsers grows, IIED has launched an innovative podcast mini-series to explore what this commitment will mean in practice

Towards COP26: can the Adaptation Committee progress in time?

After a year of virtual meetings, the Adaptation Committee – the principal body set up under the UNFCCC to provide guidance on adaptation – is zeroing in on a series of key inputs for COP26. Consensus among members is vital and inclusive processes are critical. Can it deliver all key adaptation items in time?

Perspective of LDC youth: what COP26 outcomes will enhance global action on adaptation and resilience?

Young people from the LDCs have the energy and knowledge to drive climate action – but they need collaboration and investment from decision-makers at the national and international level

Drought management in India: hostage to climate information governance

While communities in India affected by climate change, and the agencies that support them, need access to short and long-term weather forecasts to plan their responses to increasingly erratic rainfall, the current climate information governance system stops this from happening. The system needs reworking

Climate adaptation and resilience vision: what will success look like?

This IIED and ICCCAD hosted online event on Thursday, 11 February 2021 heard expert perspectives on what climate adaptation and resilience success in 2021 looks like

Thorny issues: achieving a fair and equitable Global Goal on Adaptation

The international Climate Adaptation Summit on 25 and 26 January aims to spur worldwide efforts to adapt to climate change. The Paris Agreement established the need for a Global Goal on Adaptation, but a new IIED briefing paper argues that to effectively operationalise the global goal, policymakers need to address some fundamental conceptual and technical challenges.

LDC reflections of 2020: climate action, ambition and the path forward

This IIED Debates online event on Thursday, 28 January heard perspectives and reflections on 2020 and priorities for 2021 with climate leaders from the least developed countries

Climate Adaptation Summit 2021

IIED and partners took part in the 2021 Climate Adaptation Summit 2021 on 25 and 26 January

Enhancing climate resilience impacts of India’s social protection programme

IIED is supporting the world’s largest works-based social protection scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), to deliver climate resilience impacts for vulnerable rural communities in India

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

Event highlights: CBA14 – 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

This webinar on 2 October 2018 discussed 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

Building research capacity for sustainable water and food security in drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (BRECcIA)

BRECcIA was an ambitious programme that developed capacity for impactful research production and dissemination in educational institutions in three sub-Saharan countries

What does successful adaptation look like, and what do we want to measure in the context of adaptation, national development and SDGs?

IIED organised a webinar on 28 June 2018 to discuss how developing country governments can assess adaptation actions to inform national planning and international reporting. 

Sharing knowledge on climate change adaptation in Brazil

The AdaptaClima online knowledge platform supports effective adaptation to climate change in Brazil by allowing users to share information and tools online

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

District governments in Tanzania are improving their capacity for effective adaptive planning by strengthening planning processes and establishing local adaptation funds. With support from a consortium of government and non-government stakeholders, they are testing a devolved climate finance mechanism for building resilience, which could inform policy and action in other drylands

Book summary: Financial Inclusion for Poverty Alleviation – Issues and Case Studies for Sustainable Development

Essam Yassin Mohammed, of IIED, and Zenebe Bashaw Uraguchi, co-edit 'the book Financial Inclusion for Poverty Alleviation: Issues and Case Studies for Sustainable Development'

Negotiators from developing countries get skills boost ahead of UN climate talks

More than 40 climate negotiators from vulnerable developing countries were briefed on key issues and negotiating strategies at a workshop just before the opening of the Bonn climate talks

Fieldnotes from two cities in India: learning about social learning and climate uncertainty

How can urban planners deal with the unpredictable future impacts of climate change? IIED researchers visited two Indian cities to see how a learning-based approach can help

Can we transform our cities?

Can cities prosper while meeting their responsibilities for acting on climate change? This is the focus of a new book by IPCC authors, co-edited by IIED's David Satterthwaite

1st International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA1)

In January 2005, IIED and partners organised the first major conference on community-based adaptation (CBA) in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Comparing approaches to riverbank vulnerability in Indonesia

What lessons can be learned from two markedly different cases of vulnerability among urban riverbank settlements in Indonesia?

Q&A: We need long term actions on climate change

In the first of our interviews with representatives from the Least Developed Country Group ahead of the UN climate talks in Paris (COP21), Tracy Kajumba shares some of the challenges created by climate change in Uganda

Supporting the LDCs on climate change adaptation

As climate negotiators meet in Bonn, Batu Uprety says the mandate of the Least Developed Countries Expert Group must be renewed at COP21 to continue to support the LDCs on climate change adaptation

Ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation

Ecosystem management and restoration can be a very important part of climate change adaptation, and communities can play a central role in the process, but the evidence base needs strengthening. IIED and partners are working in 12 countries to promote effective EbA and sustainable development.

Sharing knowledge to climb the adaptation ladder

When it comes to climate adaptation, the Least Developed Countries have the greatest expertise and other countries may benefit from learning from what they have done

The economics of local adaptation in the dryland ecosystems of Isiolo County

Investments to support pastoralists in Northern Kenya to adapt to the changing climate pay immediate dividends – but the benefits are even greater if the indirect impacts can also be taken into account

Financing urban resilience

Cities need to adapt to climate change: but how it be financed? IIED is working to build the case for more direct control of funding for resilience by urban residents and local governments

How do we measure adaptation?

How do we effectively measure and enhance adaptation? Saleemul Huq looks at possible answers which will be discussed at the 9th International Conference on Community Based Adaptation (CBA9)

Developing nations strengthen ability to demonstrate effective climate change adaptation

A tool for developing countries to provide evidence of effective adaptation to climate change, allowing them to access international climate funds, will be launched today (27 February) after three years of development by IIED and partners

Recognising the risks – what do people in Lima think about climate change?

While heads of state, ministers and negotiators met in Lima, Peru, to try to negotiate a global deal at the UN climate talks, local people have been developing their own adaptation strategy – and seem to find it equally difficult to face up to the scale of the problem

Toulmin: "Soil is the foundation for a prosperous society"

IIED director Camilla Toulmin tells the BBC's Science in Action that much of the soil across sub-Saharan Africa needs urgent attention if it is to feed the continent

Negotiating a fair future at COP20

On Monday 1 December, the UN Climate Change Conference 2014 kicks off in Lima. Peruvian IIED board member Francisco Sagasti discusses his hopes for a successful conference

Africa moves ahead to tackle climate change

As last month's fourth conference on Climate Change and Development showed, Africa will need strong leaders such as Fatima Denton – who will deliver IIED's 2014 Barbara Ward Lecture on Thursday – to tackle the issues of climate change

IIED responds to IPCC climate change report

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released its Fifth Assessment Report, issuing the starkest warning yet on the perils of continuing with 'business as usual'

The Tracking Adaptation and Measuring Development (TAMD) framework

The TAMD framework used two key measures to measure adaptation success

Room for optimism on Africa, the "hopeful" continent

Climate expert Fatima Denton from the Economic Commission for Africa will say it's time for more optimism on Africa and climate change at an IIED lecture to celebrate Barbara Ward's birthday

Tracking adaptation and measuring development (TAMD)

IIED is working with partners to develop and pilot a framework, called Tracking Adaptation and Measuring Development (TAMD), to track adaptation and measure its impact on development

Indigenous mountain communities call on governments to support traditional knowledge-based adaptation

An International network of Mountain Indigenous Peoples has been formed to advocate for community biocultural heritage rights and help achieve food sovereignty and climate change adaptation

Indigenous spiritual values guide climate change adaptation in mountain communities

Cultural and spiritual values of indigenous peoples and climate change will be the focus of an international event in the Potato Park, Cusco, Peru

The IPCC rings the warning bell louder. Is anyone listening?

IIED Senior Fellow Saleemul Huq, one of the co-authors of the latest IPCC report on climate change, highlights the key findings of the publication and what policymakers need to do next

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.

Inclusive environmental investments

Inclusive environmental investments — from both public and private sector finance — are essential if local forest people are to benefit from deals that are both fair and support climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

Bangladesh: from adaptation to low carbon resilience?

Is it fair to ask Bangladesh to adapt to the impacts of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions? How does the government view this approach?

The private sector’s role in low carbon resilient development

How can the private sector be effectively engaged not just to reduce the long-term impacts of climate change, but also to help communities adapt to the changes they’re experiencing now?

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.

Learning how to adapt to climate change: advocacy, training and capacity building

IIED works to help support southern countries as they adapt to climate change and the extreme weather events it brings. We do this by supporting partner organisations and experts that offer climate change adaptation training, advocacy and capacity building.

Introduction to our work on climate-resilient development

IIED works with national and local government policymakers and planners, civil society organisations, private sector companies and local communities to design, test and evaluate equitable solutions to the climate emergency in low-income countries

Climate change adaptation needs to be part of national development planning

Policymakers need to better integrate strategies for dealing with climate change into their country’s development plans, rather than leaving them isolated as stand-alone policies and projects.

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?

Knowledge is power in this game of chance (called life)

I have no weather forecasts to predict regional rains so I don’t know if I need to invest in crop insurance or not. I gamble and lose.

Building one village’s resilience to climate change starts with a cave

It might talk about the people living in the cave thousands of years ago.

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.

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.

Three ways Durban climate conference can ensure rich world meets finance promises

A briefing paper published today (21 November) by IIED outlines three steps to ensure developed countries meet their agreed commitments to help poorer nations adapt to climate change.

Donor nations get low scores on climate finance transparency scorecard

Developed countries are being far from transparent about the climate-change finance they promised to developing nations at the Copenhagen summit in 2009, according to a scorecard published today (19 September) by IIED.

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.

Health: an issue that needs to be prioritised in climate change adaptation

How can we measure adaptation: monitoring and evaluation as an entry point?

Is this a climate change issue or a human rights issue?

We had been driven for seven hours from Dhaka through hair-raising traffic to see some of the practical approaches that Caritas was using in th

Bangladesh: mangrove island reflects people's creativitiy

Climate change: governments should support migration, not fear it

Governments risk adopting policies that increase people’s vulnerability to climate change because of a general prejudice against migration, according to research published today by the International Institute for Environment and Development.

COP16: United Nations climate change negotiations

IIED researchers undertook a range of activities at the 16th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP16)

Less erosion, less warming

I recently met with a Member of the Bangladesh Parliament to discuss the potential for mitigation in the agricultural sector under IIED’s work on the economics of climate change in the agricultural sector. Agriculture produces 10–12 per cent of total global emissions but also has considerable mitigation potential — 70 per cent of which is in developing countries — and I expected the Honourable Member, a well known climate change champion, to back the cause. But he did not seem entirely convinced. Why should decision makers listen? What’s in it for them?

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

Climate refugees of the future

Bangladesh is calling for the rights of environmental refugees to be recognised as the country battles rising sea levels and chronic poverty

Keeping the forests we've got

The conservation of forests in countries like Suriname with high forest cover and low deforestation rates is not a priority for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Yet forest people suffer enormously from the effects of climate change.

Thank you for the days...

Amid the debates swirling round this conference with cyclonic intensity is one very big question: how can the world’s most vulnerable countries adapt to climate change with such a serious shortfall in targeted funding? Oxfam estimates the task as demanding US$50 billion a year — some US$49 billion more than what’s actually available.

Moveable feast: the floating gardens of Bangladesh

The farmers of southern Bangladesh have seen it all: cyclones, catastrophic flooding, silted-up rivers and creeping salination. Their South Asian homeland — a wedge of the tropics regularly exposed to searing heat and heavy monsoons — is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries on Earth.