Climate change adaptation plans must prepare citizens for impacts

What you need to know:

  • A national plan for adapting to climate change is, therefore, much more than a government strategy.

  • A robust national adaptation planning is essential for countries to adequately prepare citizens for climate change.

Though climate change is a global problem, the impacts are felt locally and the responses are different.

For example, in South Africa, as Cape Town residents recently rallied to stave off ‘Day Zero’ — when officials would have turned off the taps as a result of a multi-year drought — Johannesburg had the opposite problem: Flooding after rainfall.

Environmental scientists have been telling us for decades that climate change will make weather patterns more variable and less predictable and that it will make extreme weather, like floods and droughts, more frequent and more intense.

The 2015 Paris Agreement was an important international commitment to reduce greenhouse gases and prevent the worst effects of human-induced climate change.

But even if we achieved its goal to keep global warming “well below two degrees Celsius” above pre-industrial levels, climate change would still affect economies, lives and livelihoods around the world and societies need to prepare for the effects.

ESCALATING COSTS

The stakes are high and the costs escalating. The insurance company Swiss Re estimates that natural disasters in 2017 cost $306 billion.

These can be expected to rise as climate change amplifies disasters.

Increasing risk and uncertainty in weather patterns have significant implications on key sectors — including agriculture, water and health.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises these essential linkages between sustainable development and climate resilience, creating a further imperative for countries to develop national level visions to adapt to climate change.

Changing weather patterns and increasing extreme events create challenges in meeting basic needs and securing livelihoods, particularly for the poorest people. Within communities, and even households, there are differences in capacity to respond to climate change.

Social inequalities create additional barriers in managing risks and adapting to the changes they face.

FOOD SHORTAGES

Recent research in South Africa found that women-headed households where the woman is unmarried are more likely to experience food shortages than those headed by a married woman whose husband has migrated.

Even in households where two adults are present, there are differences in how women and men experience climate variability and change.

Another study highlighted increased workload for women when, for example, water is scarce — a key effect of changing rainfall patterns and increasing drought. Men, the traditional breadwinners, face psychological stress when weather extremes impede their ability to provide for the family.

Addressing social and gender inequalities is a key challenge for countries as they engage in national adaptation planning.

One key strategy for ensuring that national plans are grounded in local realities is to engage sub-national actors, including local government organisations and civil society organisations, who are much closer to communities and generally have a better understanding of local vulnerabilities and what is needed to build resilience.

CLIMATE CHANGE

A national plan for adapting to climate change is, therefore, much more than a government strategy. To be effective, they must involve and empower local organisations and individuals on the frontlines of climate change.

We are seeing more countries moving from planning to action. Though each country’s adaptation needs are unique, there are many lessons that can be shared on how to move from planning to implementation, partner with communities and citizens, fund the adaptation, monitor and evaluate adaptation efforts and more.

Although we all need to strive to meet the Paris Agreement’s ambition, even if all countries drastically lower their emissions, some degree of climate change is inevitable.

PREPARE CITIZENS

A robust national adaptation planning is essential for countries to adequately prepare citizens for climate change.

Adaptation Futures 2018, being held in South Africa from June 18-21, brings together more than 1,000 specialists from governments, NGOs, businesses and research organisations advancing the knowledge base on preparing for climate change.

The conference in Cape Town is, therefore, an important opportunity to learn from one another to prepare for the effects of climate change.

Ms Dazé is a climate change adaptation researcher with the International Institute for Sustainable Development. [email protected]