Climate change adaptation

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

Climate change adaptation is a response to global warming in order to reduce the vulnerability of social and biological systems to relatively sudden change and thus offset the effects of global warming. Global warming and its effects are bound to last many years, and adaptation would be necessary to the resulting changes in climate. Adaptation is especially important in developing countries since those countries are predicted to face the effects of global warming. This capacity and potential for humans to adapt is unevenly distributed across different regions and populations. The developing countries generally have less capacity to adapt. Adaptation requires the situational assessment of sensitivity and vulnerability to environmental impacts.

Adaptive capacity is closely linked to social and economic development. The economic costs of adaptation to climate change are likely to cost billions of dollars annually for the next several decades.  The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference, called COP 16 was held in Cancún, Mexico where several donor countries promised an annual $100 billion by 2020 through the Green Climate Fund for developing countries to adapt to climate change. However, although the fund set up during COP16 in Cancún, concrete pledges by developed countries have not been readily available as major donors like the USA have decided to stop contributing to the fund.

However, the adaptation challenge grows with the magnitude and the rate of climate change. In another response to climate change called climate mitigation suggests reduction of Green House Gases (GHG) emissions or removal of these gases from the atmosphere through carbon sinks. It is now evident that reduction in emissions would not prevent further climate change impacts. Hence climate adaptation is the only option left.

In the absence of mitigation efforts, the effects of climate change would make adaptation for some natural ecosystems impossible. Climate adaptation programs may interfere with existing development programs leading to unintended consequences for vulnerable groups. Some examples of climate change adaptation are-

• Prioritizing adaptation efforts in communities that have higest vulnerability
• Predicting climate change related trends based on assessment of current risk, vulnerability and climate variability
• Integrate long-term sustainable development and poverty reduction strategies
• Strengthening existing capacities
• Developing robust mobilization mechanisms and ensure financial and technical support to local disaster management officials
• Arrange improved and tested early warning systems, contingency plans along with integrated response to ensure effective community based adaptation and risk reduction
• Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation cannot managed as individual events. They are inevitably interlinked
• The community should be aware of relevant risks thatt should be quantifiable
• Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction should be factored in all divisions
• Capacity building efforts should take place at local, regional, national and international levels
• Workers at the site help in achieving rescue efforts on the ground while international donors, agencies along with national governments play an important role in establishing an environment conducive to channel resources and technical support wher it is required.
• International agencies like the red cross, help at the local level by their extensive volunteer base and long presence in communities