DM2009 - Themes

Themes

Climate Change

There is now a strong consensus that climate change presents an urgent challenge to the well-being of all countries, particularly the poorest people in them. Even if efforts to reduce greenhouses gas (GHG) emissions are successful, it is no longer possible to avoid some degree of global warming and climate change. The primary direct effects of climate change are an increase of droughts and floods, more seasonal peaks in river flow, and a higher probability of stronger tropical storms. The poorest countries and communities are likely to suffer the most because of their geographical location, low incomes, and low institutional capacity, as well as their greater reliance on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture. Adaptation to climate risks and change therefore is increasingly important in developing countries; this is understood as efforts to adjust to ongoing and potential effects of climate change. Building up resilience to increasing climate variability is the most significant climate challenge facing these countries.

The competition on climate adaptation focuses on three sub-themes:

1. Resilience of Indigenous Peoples Communities to Climate Risks
2. Climate Risk Management with Multiple Benefits
3. Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management

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There are approximately 250 million Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Indigenous Peoples are distinct in that the land on which they live, and the natural resources on which they depend, form part and parcel of their identity and culture. Ancestral territories of Indigenous Peoples encompass up to 22% of the world’s land surface and coincide with regions containing the world’s remaining forests and rich reserves of biodiversity and other natural resources.

Climate change poses differential and heightened threats to the survival of Indigenous Peoples communities. Indigenous Peoples, particularly those living in deserts, high altitudes, tropical forests, islands and coastal regions, and the arctic already experience adverse impacts of climate change. At the same time, because of their close traditional relationship with the environment, Indigenous Peoples are uniquely positioned to adapt to climate change. Indigenous Peoples’ rich traditional knowledge on the environment, agriculture, land management, cultural practices, and trade and customary law can provide a basis for innovations needed to adapt to climate change. However, this knowledge possessed by their elders is itself under serious threat of being forgotten to the detriment of future generations.

This sub-theme of the DM2009 promotes Indigenous Peoples communities and organizations development of innovative ways to adapt to climate change. With particular interest on efforts that focus on the engagement of women and youth, we seek proposals that:

• Identify and conserve agriculture, land, water and soil management practices that are based on traditional Indigenous knowledge and that help increase the resilience of Indigenous Peoples communities to climate threats;

• Develop and apply innovative adaptation plans and communication strategies based on Indigenous systems that would help accelerate learning and knowledge sharing on climate change adaptation.

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2. Climate Risk Management with Multiple Benefits

Poor communities have the weakest capacity to manage climate risks. They already struggle to cope with climate variability and extreme weather. These shocks interact with socio-economic factors to worsen the vulnerability and inequality of disadvantaged groups such as women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. As the future brings more dramatic climates, their vulnerability is set to increase unless adaptation is stepped up.

Communities need to build resilience to climate variability and climate change. At the same time as robust adaptation helps safeguard progress in reducing poverty, it may also yield other benefits such as conserving biodiversity and improving the state of eco-systems.

This sub-theme of the DM2009 promotes innovative community-based climate risk management with multiple social and environmental benefits for the vulnerable. Specifically, we seek proposals that deliver multiple social and environmental benefits and empower poor communities exposed to climate risk to:

• Test innovative, low-cost strategies to spread climate risk beyond the local level (e.g. trade and value-chain improvements; micro-finance), with a preference for strategies that target vulnerable groups such as women, children, the elderly;

• Forge innovative partnerships that build adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities, including increased access to climate risk management knowledge, information, and services;

• Use innovative means to help educate communities on climate risks that leads to empowerment for action.

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3. Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management

Climate change is projected to worsen the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Already, disasters kill tens of thousands of people every year and destroy the livelihoods of millions. Disasters destroy decades of development gains in a few moments and the costs of relief, recovery, and reconstruction consume billions of dollars from regular development funds and household savings.

Disasters push households towards poverty by destroying their human, social, and fixed capital and trap poorer households in persistent poverty. Moreover, disasters disproportionately impact disadvantaged groups such as women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Sustained long-term efforts are needed to integrate climate adaptation and disaster risk management to reduce vulnerability and safeguard development in urban and rural areas.

This sub-theme of the DM2009 promotes innovative ideas linking climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Specifically, we seek proposals that:

• Develop innovative arrangements, such as social safety nets or micro-insurance, that diffuse climate-related disaster risks faced by the poor and vulnerable beyond the local level with a preference for proposals that target vulnerable women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities and communities in conflict-prone areas;

• Create innovative low-cost approaches for making housing and local infrastructure resistant to climate-related disasters and for spatial planning (land use, housing, coastal zone management) for climate resilience;

• Improve the capacity of local communities to access and use multi-hazard risk information to enhance their early warning systems for droughts, floods and cyclones and other community-based responses to climatic extremes and climate change.

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