Adaptation to climate change is a way to reduce vulnerability and to ease the adverse impacts of climate change. UNDP and GEF are producing An Adaptation Policy Framework (APF) to narrow policy options and measures for particular climate risks.

UNDP has long-standing relationships with governments and other partners in over 130 developing countries and is ideally placed to work with countries, organizations and donors to reduce vulnerability and risk and to improve climate change adaptation.

At the national level, integrated climate risk management strategies, plans and programmes need to be built, based on new resources and the institutional and administrative mechanisms, human and financial resources currently applied to disaster risk management and other areas.

UNDP has experience in areas related to disaster reduction such as capacity building, knowledge and communication networks and early warning systems. These capacities are necessary to integrate climate adaptation, risk management and sustainable development.

DRU supports UNDP country offices on the following aspects relevant to climate change adaptation:

The Disaster Reduction Unit of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery supports more than 50 UNDP country offices in mainstreaming disaster reduction into development and post-disaster recovery.

Climate –related risks make it necessary to strengthen the work on disaster reduction at the national and regional levels. UNDP has built capacities to reduce vulnerability and risk worldwide, and enhancing these capacities can help to face the threats of a changing climate.

The Adaptation Policy Framework (APF) principles explicitly state the need to pay greater attention to recent climate experience, impacts and adaptation and to ensure adaptation to climate variability and extreme events as a step towards reducing longer-term vulnerability.

An integrated risk management approach: Recognizing the need for exploring linkages between disaster reduction and adaptation to climate change, the DRU in collaboration with UNDP Country Office in Cuba organized an international Experts’ group meeting on Disaster Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change in June 2002 in Havana. This meeting helped articulate an Integrated Climate Risk Management approach that will help build synergies between disaster reduction and adaptation to climate change.

Over the last few years, a general consensus has emerged among the scientific community regarding the fact that the earth’s climate is changing due to anthropogenic factors. It is being recognized that the reductions in emissions over the next several years are not likely to be achieved at a rate that is sufficient to greatly reduce the rate of change. Hence increasing attention is now being given to enhance adaptive capacities of populations at risk. Referred to as “adaptation” within the climate change community, work in this area has gained prominence over the last five years. However, it is still very unclear as to how exactly adaptation will work at the local level. There is also a lack of clarity as to what kind of national policies will support the enhancement of adaptive capacity of the poor people.

In such a context, the key point that an ICRM approach makes is that adaptation to climate change can be viewed as an on-going exercise in risk management. A focus on risks of negative outcomes over a variety of time scales allows a linkage to be made between present-day concerns about the alarming increase in climate-related losses and more nebulous but very real concerns about potential losses in the future when climatic averages are expected to have shifted. This approach sets the stage for the argument that reducing vulnerability to climatic hazards today is a cornerstone of the effort to build resilience for the future.

More about DRU work . . .

Climate change adaptation is a complex and cross-sectoral issue. Its integration with disaster reduction and sustainable development should aim to maximize the benefits in terms of human and ecological gains. It should enhance disaster reduction and its contribution to other areas and also benefit from work being carried out in these areas. The integrated climate risk management approach of UNDP projects and programmes in disaster reduction, in cooperation with national and regional institutions, can prove beneficial in multiple areas.

Links to our partners on ICRM

Visit the UNDP Energy & Environment site for additional lines of work on adaptation, including the Workshop on Climate Change for the Asian Region, Kuala Lumpur September 2000. - PDF - 24 pages - 556KB

Pacific Islands Climate Change Assistance Programme (PICCAP)
UNDP implements this GEF funded regional project involving ten Pacific Island countries to enable them to meet their UNFCC reporting activities. It includes capacity building activities, vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies.

Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Clmate Change (CPACC)
The CPACC is a UN effort sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to cope with the adverse effects of global climate change, mainly in coastal and marine’s areas . Funds are implemented through the World Bank and the project is managed by the Organization of American States (OAS). UNDP is member of the Project Advisory Committee (PAC). UNDP Small Islands Developing States network: (SIDSnet) and CPACC held a series of Workshops on “Islands and Information” - PDF - 5 pages - 44KB

Capacity Building for Stage II Adaptation to Climate Change in Central America, Mexico and Cuba
This GEF funded project with UNDP implementation aims to develop an adaptation policy framework and prepare national adaptation strategies for priority sectors.

More UNDP-GEF projects on Climate Change