Climate change adaptation

Adaptation guidance and tools

Page contents

Mainstreaming adaptation into development programming
Project level adaptation tools
Additional online resources

Mainstreaming adaptation into development programming

Recognition of the links between climate change and development has prompted a range of efforts to integrate climate change adaptation into development planning and decision-making processes (see adaptation and development). This section of the topic guide presents some of the approaches and tools to support climate change adaptation mainstreaming which have been developed over the past decade.

Olhoff, A. and Schaer, C., 2010, ‘Screening Tools and Guidelines to Support the Mainstreaming of Climate Change Adaptation into Development Assistance – A Stocktaking Report’, United Nations Development Programme, New York
What is climate change adaptation mainstreaming and how it can be made operational at national and sub-national levels? This report looks at the ways in which mainstreaming of climate change adaptation has been defined and it gives an overview of available resources and screening tools to support components of mainstreaming. It argues that although available definitions point to the need for mainstreaming, they give limited practical guidance as to how to integrate climate concerns into the different levels of planning and decision-making.
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OECD, 2009, ‘Policy Guidance on Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation’, OECD, Paris
How can climate change adaptation be mainstreamed in development cooperation agencies and in partner countries' development plans? What are the priorities for governments and donors? This report recommends moving the co-ordination of adaptation implementation into powerful central bodies, and integrating consideration of long-term climate risks in national planning processes as well as in budgets. It also highlights the need to boost the capacity to assess climate change implications, and to examine the resilience of existing policies and frameworks.
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World Resources Institute, 2009, 'The National Adaptive Capacity Framework: Key Institutional Functions for a Changing Climate', Pilot Draft, World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.
How can countries adapt to climate change? The National Adaptive Capacity framework (NAC) identifies national-level functions that all countries will need to perform to adapt effectively to climate change: assessment, prioritisation, coordination, information management and climate risk reduction. The framework can be used to assess how well functions are being performed and to identify opportunities and priorities for building adaptive capacity and implementing key activities.
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Lim, B. (ed.), 2005, ‘Adaptation Policy Frameworks for Climate Change: Developing Strategies, Policies and Measures’, United Nations Development Programme, New York and Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
How can climate change concerns be incorporated into development planning processes? This Guidebook introduces the Adaptation Policy Framework (APF) to help project teams work through the conceptual, technical and operational challenges that arise throughout the adaptation process. The development of an adaptation strategy needs to balance reducing climate change impacts with the constraints of national policymaking processes. Whatever adaptation options and measures emerge, packaging these decisions into an effective strategy will require increased policy coherence across economic sectors, societal levels and timeframes.
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Huq, S. and Ayers, J., 2008, ‘Taking Steps: Mainstreaming National Adaptation’, IIED Briefing, International Institute for Environment and Development, London
How can adaptation to climate impacts be seamlessly integrated into development policy and planning? This brief presents a four-step approach to national capacity building on climate change that mainstreams adaptation into development at national and local levels. These steps are: 1) awareness raising; 2) targeting information to stakeholders; 3) adaptation/mitigation pilot activities; and 4) the institutionalisation of a fully integrated climate change-development approach. A 'learning by doing' approach, it focuses first on national capacity to ensure that development in all sectors and at all levels is climate-proofed.
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World Bank, 2008, ‘Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Development Programs. A Practical Guide’, World Bank, Washington DC
What are the main channels through which development programmes could affect a country's capacity to adapt to climate change? This report identifies transmission channels through which development programmes could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of impending climate change on individuals. It proposes economic and sectoral reforms that would solidify the link between development and climate change adaptation. Each country should conduct an assessment to measure its institutional capacity to address climate issues. These assessments should also examine the extent to which climate issues are integrated into the government’s policymaking framework.
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Brooks, N., et al. , 2011, ‘Tracking Adaptation and Measuring Development’, IIED Working Paper No. 1, International Institute for Environment and Development, London
This paper presents a framework for climate change adaptation programming, including potential indicators, or indicator categories/types, for tracking and evaluating the success of adaptation support and interventions. The framework assesses: a) how well climate risks to development are managed by institutions ('upstream' indicators); and b) how successful adaptation interventions are in reducing vulnerability and keeping development 'on track' in the face of changing climate risks ('downstream' indicators). Its proposed indicators are not intended to substitute for context-sensitive country-level indicators. Rather, they are designed to 'sweep' existing frameworks and approaches in order to present an aggregated picture of overall progress towards adaptation goals.
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Project level adaptation tools

General

Climate screening

Community-based adaptation

Disaster risk reduction

Additional online resources

The Adaptation Learning Mechanism (ALM) is a collaborative knowledge-sharing platform which provides access to a range of tools and resources to support adaptation practice and the integration of climate change risks and adaptation into development policy, planning and operations.
The UNFCCC Compendium on methods and tools to evaluate impacts of, and vulnerability and adaptation to, climate change is designed to assist Parties and other potential users in selecting the most appropriate methodology for assessments of impacts and vulnerability, and preparing for adaptation to climate change. The Compendium was developed in 1999 and updated in 2003, 2005, 2008 and more recently in 2009.
weADAPT is an online collaborative space which provides guidance by pooling expertise from a wide range of organisations that contribute to adaptation science and practice.