Recent global events have foregrounded the uncertainty of the times we live in. A pandemic, followed by struggling economies in the backdrop of extreme weather events not only highlighted the need for action on multiple fronts, but also emphasized that mitigation is not solution enough. In view of this, adaptation and resilience have gained ground as a way forward.
Resilience focuses on the shock absorption capacities of systems while maintaining function. Its other aspects include “renewal, re-organization and development” that are needed to fix the current and future climate and ecological predicaments, as portended by a growing body of research. The Global Risks Report 2022 identified “climate action failure”, “extreme weather events”, and “biodiversity loss” as the most severe risks over the next 10 years. Moreover, studies also find that human activity is closely linked with weakening resilience. This has profound implications for humans, ecosystems, and overall planetary health and stability.
Closely related to resilience, adaptation refers to the “adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects.” Integral to sustainable development, solutions oriented towards adaptation are uniquely contextualized to address damages due to climate shocks. Given the intensity with which climate risks are increasing, developing such solutions has become imperative. This is especially true in contexts of climate-sensitive sectors, such as agriculture, in developing countries. Faced with climate vulnerabilities as well as resource constraints, the future of these geographies is marked by increasing climate stresses. As a result, what is to come seems precarious, to say the least, which further underlines the need to strengthen climate adaptation for a green, just, sustainable, and inclusive development.
This multidimensional transformation requires support on various fronts, availability of finance, or the lack of it, being one. Despite the US $100 billion promise that developed countries made in 2009, mobilizing finance for climate adaptation has been a formidable challenge for developing countries. This is concurrent with the rising costs for building resilience in socio-economic systems that could go as high as US $500 billion by 2050 in these economies. Furthermore, conflicting policies, a dearth of long-term collaboration, data and monitoring systems, among others impede achieving the climate and development objectives. For instance, a lack of policy focus and unregulated anthropogenic activities, such as deforestation have been responsible for a "pronounced loss in ecosystem resilience".
Given such adverse developments, a combination of investments, insights and intent would be critical to effect change. In conjunction with a bottom-up approach contextualized to the specific needs, it could bridge the extant capacity gaps starting right from the local level. From a finance perspective, investing in improving resilience has shown considerable benefit-cost ratios. This is evidenced by the Global Commission on Adaptation’s finding that investing in just five areas of climate adaptation could deliver up to 4 times the return by 2030. An example emerges from Africa and Latin America, where microfinance is being leveraged to finance ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) initiatives in agricultural landscapes. Based on farmer incentivisation, the innovative approach first extends specific loans for climate adaptation. This is then followed by a second round of financing, wherein farmers are offered subsidised loans in return for expected climate benefits. In this way, by incorporating innovation in traditional institutions, finance can be leveraged to support farmer populations while contributing towards the achievement of climate and global goals.
Employing appropriate tools and practice by leveraging cross-sectoral expertise further strengthens and builds the momentum towards better mitigation and adaptation measures at local, organizational and systemic levels. This helps drive the implementation of interventions and improve the management, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) processes for these initiatives. For example, through capacity-building and assessment of local climate policies, the Gender Into Urban Climate Change Initiative (GUCCI) aims to incorporate gender considerations into urban climate policy. This was followed by an examination of the local policies for their gender-responsiveness to prepare recommendations for high-level policymakers. Such holistic approaches that pool and integrate multiple objectives into policy-making and implementation allow room for massive changes in the entire system.
Lastly, an intent to effect change at a national level would trickle down into bringing in a behavioural and mindset shift among populations. For instance, the National Climate Change Learning Strategy (NCCLS) by the Government of Malawi reflects the political intent to factor in climate change through knowledge and capacity-building. By making use of structured learning tools and skill development training, the strategy enables participants’ involvement in designing and implementing adaptation practices. If supported by rigorous monitoring of efforts and long-term evaluation of outcomes, such initiatives can provide a perceptive account to effect attitudinal shifts and decision-making at all levels.
The inception point of all these climate conversations lies in the 1972 Stockholm Conference. Known for being the first UN conference to include 'environment' in its title, it set the stage for the "realisation that man has come to one of those seminal points in his history where his own activities are the principle determinants of his own future". 50 years later with at least triple the magnitude of crisis, we are yet to see the realisation taking form of all-out action.
Following on from its 1972 counterpart, Stockholm+50 could be the place to give prominence to constructive issues, the issues being adaptation and resilience this time. This highly collaborative and multi-stakeholder platform can and should provide the thrust needed to explore the synergies between mitigation and adaptation, to build resilience. Conversations at such fora have the potential to influence the creation of an enabling environment for resource mobilization. Steering these developments in the right direction would help harness the opportunities in climate mitigation and adaptation strategies to step up climate action, which is no longer just a priority, but a pressing need.
