A new framework for rapidly assessing national adaptation policies: an application to small island developing states in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Abstract

Adapting to climate change is becoming a routine and necessary component of planning at all levels. In the case of small island developing states (SIDS), the successful development, implementation and evaluation of national-level adaptation policies are especially important because of their disproportionate vulnerability. The status of adaptation policies in these countries, however, is poorly understood and documented, particularly for the Atlantic, Indian Oceans, Mediterranean and South China Seas (AIMS) region. This is so largely because of minimal mainstream research interest in these small nations. This paper helps fill this gap. It develops an Adaptation Policy Assessment Framework that facilitates a rapid qualitative assessment of countries’ national adaptation policies. It applies the framework to seven representative policies across six of the nine SIDS in the AIMS region—Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Maldives, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles and Singapore. It finds that countries are mostly successful in identifying climate and climate-related vulnerabilities and linking associated risks to other national development priorities such as poverty reduction. Countries, however, struggle with establishing and maintaining systems to review and improve adaptation interventions, which is not entirely unique to them or their circumstances. This paper’s findings provide critical points of reflection for countries preparing and revising their National Adaptation Plans in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They also contribute to a broader understanding of the complexities of climate policy development in small jurisdictions.

A critical analysis of national plans for climate adaptation for health in South America

“…Fortunately, there are several analyses, guidelines, and toolkits available to support governments in establishing these plans. 65 , 66 , 67 For example, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has published quality criteria guidelines for Health National Adaptation Plans, 68 helping countries advancing in their sectoral plans. The Operational framework for building climate resilient health systems, also published by the WHO, offers guidance to the health sector on effectively addressing challenges posed by climate variability and change.…”

Planning for Climate Change in Small Island Developing States: Can Dominica’s Climate Resilience and Recovery Plan Be a Model for Transformation in the Caribbean?

“…In order to assess the quality of the CRRP, we apply the Adaptation Policy Assessment (A-PASS) framework, which was recently developed by Robinson et al [7]. It provides policy-and decision-makers with an opportunity to rapidly assess their climate adaptation policies and plans.…”

“…(3) priorities and options; (4) actions and implementation; and (5) monitoring and evaluation [7]. The 'information base' dimension has three sub-dimensions that explore evidence of climate-and non-climate-related vulnerabilities being adequately understood in the context of various population groups, sectors, and natural and human systems.…”

“…It also interrogates whether links are established between climate change and national/sustainable development, disaster risk reduction, resilience, and transformation. The second dimension, 'vision, goals and objective', features four sub-dimensions that explore evidence of high-level support for the policy, long-term vision, short-to medium-term goals, and SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant [to the country context], time bound) adaptation goals [7]. The 'priorities and options' dimension has four sub-dimensions that center on evidence of stock-taking of community-, sector-and national-level efforts, clarity of national priorities and consideration of climate risks and available options [7].…”

“…We explain this framing in Section 2 of this paper, where we also provide more details about the NRDS and the CRRP. We also describe our analytical framework-the recently developed Adaptation Policy Assessment (A-PASS) framework [7] that we use to assess the quality of the CRRP based on its (1) information base; (2) vision, goals and objectives; (3) priorities and options; (4) actions and implementation; and (5) monitoring and evaluation. The results of our application of A-PASS are presented in Section 3.…”