Climate change adaptation

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.

Call for case studies for policymaking on loss and damage

IIED is inviting civil society organisations, local experts and researchers to share case studies to gather local level evidence on climate change loss and damage from vulnerable countries. Closing date: 15 July, 2021

The ‘A’ Factor: accountability for locally led adaptation – episode 2 of podcast mini-series

In the second episode of ‘Locally led adaptation – a time for action’, organisations that have signed up to the principles of locally led adaptation are held to account by two expert judges. Will their plans for tracking progress on putting local people in control of local level adaptation make the grade?

Locally led adaptation – a time for action podcast

In the run-up to the UN climate summit (COP26) negotiations, IIED presents a new mini-series of three podcast conversations examining issues affecting and solutions to locally led adaption to climate change

LIFE-AR: inspiring change within IIED

The least developed countries’ vision for a climate-resilient future calls for a radical shake-up of the ‘business-as-usual’ response to the climate crisis. Within IIED, it’s an opportunity to embed ‘business unusual’ principles in the way we work

CBA15: Can adaptation be a superhero in the 'super year' for climate and nature?

Innovation will be key in bouncing forward from COVID-19 and delivering on the ambitions of the 'super year' – to protect nature, tackle poverty and accelerate climate action. The CBA community will be ready to hold decision-makers accountable on the commitments they make this year

Happy new super year! Why is 2021 such a big deal for climate, nature and people?

As the world woke up on 1 January this year, you could be forgiven for not noticing a new year had dawned. With lockdowns and restrictions still in place across many countries, new year celebrations were muted. But here at IIED, even without the midnight countdown, we’re gearing up for an exceptional year in 2021: a year of great ambition and opportunity to drive better outcomes for climate change, nature and people

Striving for better: following LDC leadership in addressing the climate crisis

Guest blogger Gebru Jember sets out the principles guiding the least developed countries’ initiative on effective adaptation and resilience

Principles for locally led adaptation

Eight principles for locally led adaptation have been developed to help ensure that local communities are empowered to lead sustainable and effective adaptation to climate change at the local level. IIED is among over 40 governments, leading global institutions and local and international NGOs that have already endorsed these principles and are advocating their endorsement by others

Call for evidence: effective learning for climate adaptation and resilience

The LDC Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR) is inviting submissions on effective practice – approaches, methods and incentives – for building a strong community of practice. The submissions will contribute to the development of a learning and knowledge platform

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

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.

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

BRECcIA is an ambitious programme that aims to develop research capacity in institutions in three sub-Saharan countries

Webinar: 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'

Tracking Adaptation and Measuring Development (TAMD): Country work

TAMD is being piloted in countries in Africa and Asia. Each country adapts the framework to its own needs and contributes towards the further development of the framework

Latest news and events on Tracking Adaptation and Measuring Development (TAMD)

International meetings allow organisations to share their experiences of applying the TAMD framework and make plans for developing it further

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

Six nations to share progress on measuring adaptation to climate change

The governments of six countries will share their experiences of assessing the effectiveness and developmental impacts of climate change adaptation, at an international meeting in Kenya on 24-27 March.

Nepal: Measuring resilience to climate change from the community up

Effective monitoring and evaluation of changes in community resilience that arise from both development and climate change resilience, can help Nepal can make smart moves to protect its people, says Susannah Fisher.

Maps that build bridges

Thanks to digital participatory mapping, pastoralists are proud of their local knowledge and policymakers want to act on it.

Seven ways equity can promote success at the UN climate talks

For a new global climate agreement to be truly equitable —and get global buy-in — it must share the burden of adaptation as well as that of mitigation.

Offer extended: Free access to papers on cities and climate change

The new edition of the journal Environment and Urbanization focuses on ways cities can increase their resilience to 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?

CBA7: highlights from day two

Here are some highlights from today's events at the 7th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to climate change (CBA7) in Dhaka

CBA7: Highlights from day one

Here are some highlights from the first day of the 7th International Conference on community-based adaptation to climate change (CBA7) in Bangladesh

CBA7: Live debate on climate change adaptation tweet-by-tweet

Read highlights from a fast-moving live online chat on how the poorest and most vulnerable can act to adapt to climate change.

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.

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.

Vietnam: project with children at its heart wins CBA6 Solidarity Grant

The children in Hong Ca commune, Vietnam, know that practising rescue drills can save lives in the event of a real natural disaster.

Conference buzzes with stories of communities adapting to climate change

The meeting, organised by IIED and partners, included three days of visits to communities across Vietnam that are already adapting to climatic changes.

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.

CBNRM and climate change

IIED collaborated with WWF Zambia to study the linkages between community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) and climate change

Pastoralism videos/Vidéos pastoralisme

A selection of short videos, in English or French language, exploring the impact of climate change on drylands pastoralists

With nations lagging, cities take lead in adapting to climate change

Urban societies can adapt to resource shortage and climate change

Cities can break the link between high living standards and significant contributions to climate change, using many technologies and policies that are already available if not widely used.

How ‘just giving money to the poor’ helps them adapt to climate change

Programmes which transfer money directly to the poor help them adapt to climate change. That´s what I´m suggesting in a new briefing paper to be presented at the upcoming conference on ‘Social Protection for Social Justice’, will be held at the Centre for Social Protection in Brighton between the 13th and 15th of April. 

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

Community based adaptation: conference video blog

The 5th International Conference on Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change, takes place in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 24 to 31 March 2011. Saleemul Huq will be keeping us updated from the conference in a series of daily video logs.

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?

Renewables, why bother?

For much of the developing world producing clean energy that also mitigates carbon emissions is a very low priority. After all, why should countries that haven't significantly contributed to climate change worry about reducing their relatively tiny carbon emissions? In any case who would pay for it all?

Beyond buzzwords: making adaptation a development norm

Day 1 of IIED’s Development and Climate Days: Land, Water and Forests

Climate change media partnership

Internews, Panos and IIED have joined forces to support developing world journalism and perspectives from the heart of the international climate negotiations.

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.

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.

Economics of climate change adaptation in least developed countries

This project aimed to build capacity in the least developed countries (LDCs) in the economic analysis of climate change to inform policymaking