Building Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change in Less Developed Countries

Lemos, Maria Carmen; Agrawal, Arun; Eakin, Hallie; Nelson, Donald R.; Engle, Nathan L.; Johns, Owen

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6692-1_16

Cited by 101 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…The role of economic growth as a driver of intensifying climate change and of the economic costs of addressing climate change versus failing to respond have been thoroughly discussed in both scholarly and policy deliberations [12]. But the focus within climate change policy on reducing the risks vulnerable communities face [13] as well as on having the resources to overcome and manage threats [14] have meant that there is also a need to understand the interplay of development efforts and addressing climate change policy with even greater nuance [15]. Interactions between climate change mitigation and adaptation themselves add another layer to this complexity as efforts to address one can result in co-benefits that positively reinforce efforts related to the other [16,17] or trade-offs that negatively affect efforts related to the other [16,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying the Potential for Climate Compatible Development Efforts and the Missing Links

Kalafatis

2017

Sustainability

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Those examining climate compatible development and triple-win policy efforts that simultaneously negotiate sustainable development, climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation considerations are on the cutting edge of exploring why and how policymakers address complex social problems that require balancing considerations about multiple, interrelated policy issues. Enhancing understanding of factors underlying the emergence of these efforts can help strengthen incentives for action, address implementation challenges, and anticipate inequities. This paper uses survey responses from 287 cities and logistic regression analyses to explore conditions and policy actions associated with potential climate compatible development efforts when economic development, sustainability, climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation considerations overlap. It finds evidence that potential climate compatible development efforts were present in 10% of the cities studied. Adaptation was the issue most likely to act as the missing link when each of these other issues influenced city policy actions, and mitigation was the least likely. Contextual factors associated with these efforts included budget stress, leadership from a policy entrepreneur, higher college degree attainment rates, having an environmental department or commission, and the area of the city composed of water versus land. Examining factors associated with these issues acting as missing links revealed contradictions that highlight the necessity of further exploration of processes affecting the pursuit of climate compatible development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying the Potential for Climate Compatible Development Efforts and the Missing Links

Kalafatis

2017

Sustainability

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“…Moreover, most studies on capacity to adapt to climate change (Nzuma et al, 2010;Arnall, 2012;Lemos, 2013;Tembo, 2013) have focused mainly on national level assessments that utilize indicators and indices (Byrne, 2014). Yet national scale indicators of adaptive capacity are too broad for practical application at local community level (Tembo, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing forest-based rural communities' adaptive capacity and coping strategies for climate variability and change: The case of Vhembe district in south Africa

Ofoegbu

Chirwa

Francis

et al. 2016

Environmental Development

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In this study, various coping strategies used by forest-based rural communities in Vhembe District of South Africa in response to climate variability and change challenges were investigated. The effect of community socio-demographic characteristics on the adaptive capacity and choice/effectiveness of coping strategies was examined. Household level data were collected from 366 respondents selected from 21 rural communities using the proportionate random sampling procedure. The Pearson Chisquare test was used to analyse the coping strategies. The effects of household and community sociodemographic characteristics on choice and effectiveness of coping strategies were determined using the binary logit model. It was observed that the respondents used diverse coping strategies, depending on the nature of climate variability and extreme weather events they were confronted with. Rainwater harvesting was the most popular strategy that the respondents in Makhado (90%), Mutale (96.3%), and Thulamela (50%) used to cope with erratic rainfall. Tree planting around houses and on farmland were the most popular strategies (90-100%) to counter the effects of extreme temperature. Furthermore, household and community demographic characteristics in particular education and skills levels, and forest products, institutional services and infrastructure available in the communities such as markets, and water supply facilities significantly (p<0.05) influenced the choice of households' coping strategies. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that efforts that enhance the household's capacity and community infrastructural development might be viable and sustainable ways of improving rural communities' resilience to climate change and variability challenges.

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“…AC is a relative concept, both in terms of spatial distribution and the way it responds in different contexts (Lemos et al 2013). AC is also an aggregated condition which can be explained through a series of determining factors and processes that affect the ability of a region, area or community to adapt (Smit and Pilifosova 2001;Metzger et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%