Adaptation

Adaptation is a concept that refers to the adjustments and coping strategies that are made in natural or human systems in response to climate change threats. While human and animal communities have a long record of adapting to the impacts of climate variability, global warming poses the risk of must more intense impacts on commmunities from drought, heat waves, floods and hurricanes.

Adaptation to climate change is already taking place, particularly in urban and rural areas in regions in the Global South (Asia, Latin America, and Africa), as well as in small island nations. Communities are adapting by developing a range of practices, including crop diversification, irrigation, water management, disaster risk management and insurance.  Farmers often have intricate systems of gathering and interpreting weather patterns and adapting their seasonal farming practices. Adaptation strategies, when properly implemented, can help to limit the loss of life and livelihoods from warming temperatures and weather disasters.

Climate adaptation strategies, to be effective at the local and national level, should be supported by wider institutional and fiscal support mechanisms. To date, financing for climate adaptation strategies in urban and rural areas is limited. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “the technical, financial and institutional capacity, and the actual planning and implementation of effective adaptation, is currently quite limited in many regions.” ¹In terms of the costs of climate adaptation, estimates by the World Bank put the figure to be between $9 billion and $41 billion annually. ² Oxfam estimates the figure at over $50 billion annually. ³ The majority of adaptation funding for developing countries takes place under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change  (UNFCCC) through four funding streams: the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF); the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF); and the Adaptation Fund (AF). ⁴