The dynamic nature of the factors that affect the poor and vulnerable communities in key climate change hotspots calls for flexible and evolving combinations of adaptation practices and policies, underpinned by appropriate and relevant climate science. CARIAA’s work in this domain has focused on developing the evidence base for adaptation interventions at the scales appropriate to the hotspots and research areas we are working on. Our research has also focused on the development and testing of innovative approaches to adaptation in semi-arid areas, deltas and glacier-fed river basins. One such approach is adaptation pathways, a decision-focused method for sequencing interventions over time to allow for progressive implementation depending on how the future unfolds.
At the Adaptation Futures conference in Cape Town, South Africa, CARIAA will host a session titled “Evidence-based guiding principles for developing adaptation pathways to inform adaptation policy and practice in the context of development.” This session will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to adaptation pathway development applied in developing country contexts. Examples of approaches from across our consortia study sites including in West Africa, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Indonesia, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, the Volta delta and the Mekong Delta will be pitched and discussed.
In another session, “Hotspots 2.0: Innovation for Climate Resilient Development,” CARIAA will showcase promising adaptation innovations, focusing on ways to increase uptake. Presenters from both the program and outside, will discuss how their innovations could contribute towards increased climate resilience and better development outcomes, and outline the institutional adjustments that are necessary to take their innovations to scale.
In a third session, “Harnessing Climate Resilient Economic Transformation in Semi-arid Lands,” CARIAA members, in particular from the PRISE consortium, will explore the evidence base and policy environment for inclusive and climate-resilient economic transformation in semi-arid lands. Shifting the paradigm away from characterizing these places as vulnerable and poor, the session will focus on recognizing their inherent capacities to adapt to change and identifying opportunities to do so. Details on these sessions can be found below.
Adaptation Futures is the world’s premier conference on climate change adaptation. This year, CARIAA has a significant presence at the conference, with our consortia leading in excess of 30 special sessions such as the examples outlined above, and more than 30 oral presentations and 20 posters. This is a key opportunity for the program to showcase its maturing research results.
Session details
Title: Evidence-based guiding principles for developing adaptation pathways to inform adaptation policy and practice in the context of development
ID: S200
Date and time: 2:15–4:00 PM on Wednesday June 20th, 2018
Title: Hotspots 2.0: Innovation for Climate Resilient Development
ID: S82
Date and time: 9:15–11:00 AM on Wednesday June 20th, 2018
Title: Harnessing Climate Resilient Economic Transformation in Semi-arid Lands
ID: S160
Date and time: 11:30 AM–1:15 PM on Thursday June 21st, 2018