The adaptation imperative

Achim Steiner (the executive director of the UN Environment Programme) in Project Syndicate: ... The good news is that the Lima “Call for Climate Action” made sufficient progress to enable preparations for a comprehensive climate deal in Paris. But it also left many questions unresolved – a shortcoming that was reflected in discussions on adaptation. Though the new emphasis on this important topic is welcome, how to deliver the funding, technology, and knowledge that countries, communities, and ecosystems need to adjust to climate chang
e requires further articulation.

Even if we limit the rise in global temperatures, climate change is here to stay. Communities are already facing more extreme and frequent droughts, floods, and other weather events. These consequences will only intensify.

Yet the UN Environment Programme’s first adaptation report, released in Lima, showed that the world remains wholly unprepared to cover the costs of adaptation. And those costs will be far higher than was previously thought. According to the report, even if the temperature target is met, the cost of adaptation will reach 2-3 times the previously anticipated $70-100 billion per year by 2050 (an increase of as much as fivefold is possible, though less likely).

....To be sure, the world is making some progress toward addressing adaptation needs. Adaptation funding from public sources reached $23-26 billion in 2012-2013. According to a recent assessment by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, global financial flows for mitigation and adaptation measures amounted to $340-650 billion in 2011-2012.

Furthermore, pledges at the Lima conference by Australia, Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Norway, and Peru bring the Green Climate Fund to nearly $10.2 billion. And the impact of climate change is increasingly, though still inadequately, being factored into national and local budgets.

But much more financing will be needed to prevent a funding gap after 2020. The Green Climate Fund, for example, is supposed to reach $100 billion per year – ten times higher than it is now – in the next five years....

Alfred Thompson Bricher (1837-1908), "Crashing Waves," date unknown

UNFCCC draws lessons from adaptation planning processes

IISD Reporting Services: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published a ‘Synthesis report on methods and tools for, and good practices and lessons learned relating to, adaptation planning processes addressing ecosystems, human settlements, water resources and health, and good practices and lessons learned related to processes and structures for linking national and local adaptation planning.'

The report synthesizes information contained in submissions from parties and Nairobi work programme (NWP) partner organizations on: available and implemented tools and methods for adaptation planning processes that address ecosystems, human settlements, water resources and health; good practices and lessons learned regarding planning processes, including monitoring and evaluation, in the four sectors; and good practices and lessons learned related to processes and structures for linking national and local adaptation planning.

The report concludes with a brief summary of the main elements common to the submissions, such as the importance of knowledge management systems. An annex contains examples of methods and tools for adaptation planning processes addressing the four sectors.

...The paper emphasizes: the need to develop a holistic approach to climate change response and development, and to integrate adaptation planning and practices across sectors; effective coordination and clarity on roles and responsibilities among ministries; the importance of partnerships and involving all stakeholders in adaptation planning processes; the importance of integrating adaptation planning into development and sector planning and implementation; and decision-making processes informed by local and scientific information...

Kibera, in Nairobi, shot by Blazej Mikula, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons license 3.0

Climate change adaptation can help promote sub-Saharan African livelihoods

UN News Centre: Investing in ways to adapt to climate change will promote the livelihood of 65 per cent of Africans, the United Nations environmental agency reported, warning also that failing to address the phenomenon could reverse decades of development progress on the continent.

Africa’s population is set to double to 2 billion by 2050, the majority of whom will continue to depend on agriculture to make a living, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). “With 94 per cent of agriculture dependent on rainfall, the future impacts of climate change – including increased droughts, flooding, and seal-level rise – may reduce crop yields in some parts of Africa by 15 - 20 per cent,” UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said. “Such a scenario, if unaddressed, could have grave implications for Africa’s most vulnerable states,” he added.

In a new graphical report, Keeping Track of Adaptation Actions in Africa (KTAA) - Targeted Fiscal Stimulus Actions Making a Difference, UNEP details the implications of climate change, and provides examples of adaptation projects that range from forest ecosystem management to aquatics and agriculture.

The report describes sustainable examples of how countries in sub-Saharan Africa enhanced environmental and ecosystem resilience through the use of native plants and natural infrastructure, land plans and rainwater harvesting, among other examples.

The projects are integrated into national development policies which can strengthen and enhance the resilience communities against the impacts of climate change, while also contributing to the realization of the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the report authors....

UNEP urges Africa to invest in climate change adaptation

APA in StarAfrica: Investment in climate change adaptation can help ensure that the impacts of climate change do not reverse decades of development progress in Africa, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).The report released in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Tuesday claims the adoption of climate change practices will reverse a projected 20 – 50 per cent decline in water availability.

The report titled "Keeping Track of Adaptation Actions in Africa:  Targeted Fiscal Stimulus Actions Making a Difference" is the first graphical account presenting practical examples of successful low-cost adaptation solutions from around sub-Saharan Africa in one concise handbook.

The report includes examples of successful adaptation projects that have provided the impetus for large-scale government investments and policy action. According to the report, by 2050 Africa’s population will have doubled. The continent will then be home to 2 billion people, the majority of which will still largely depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, it says.

"With 94 per cent of agriculture dependent on rainfall, the future impacts of climate change – including increased droughts, flooding, and seal-level rise – may reduce crop yields in some parts of Africa by 15 – 20 per cent," UN-Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner adds....

The Sahara in Mauritania, shot by Annabel Symington, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license 

Climate action brings big benefits to human health

A press release from the UN Environment Programme: Fast action to cut common pollutants like soot - also known as black carbon - and methane will not only slow global warming, but save millions of lives. Reductions of these so-called short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) would slow rapid melting in the Arctic and in mountain regions with glaciers, like the Himalayas.  It would also bring multiple health, crop and ecosystem benefits, and decrease risks to development from flooding and water shortages  says a new scientific study released today.

 “The health of people around the world will improve greatly if we reduce emissions of black carbon and methane. Limiting these emissions also will be an important contributor to the fight against climate change," said Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group.“The damage from indoor cooking smoke alone is horrendous - every year, 4 million people die from exposure to the smoke. With cleaner air, cities will become more productive, food production will increase and children will be healthier.”

On Thin Ice: How Cutting Pollution can Slow Warming and Save Livesis about how climate change is affecting the cryosphere - those snow-capped mountain ranges, brilliant glaciers and vast permafrost regions on which all of us depend.

It warns that current warming in the cryosphere could have dire human consequences from resulting sea level rise, increased water stress and more extreme weather.  For example, the release of large CO2 and methane stores as a result of melting permafrost could contribute up to 30% more carbon to the atmosphere by the end of the century....

An iceberg off Baffin Bay in Greenland, US Air Force photo