ALM UNDP

This paper provides guidance to policy-oriented researchers' work on valuing climate change adaptation in developing countries.

This paper provides guidance to policy-oriented researchers' work on valuing climate change adaptation in developing countries.

This paper is part of a series of research reports written to inform the public debate on development and humanitarian policy issues.

In 2009, Oxfam commissioned research on climate variability in four woredas, or administrative areas, in Ethiopia.

Studies of vulnerability and resilience have multiplied with the growing realization that societal response, particularly societal capacity to adapt to climate change impacts, determines both the severity of impacts and the costs of adaptation.

Strong evidence exists showing that demographic change is closely associated with greenhouse gas emissions, and that population dynamics will play a key role in attempts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of changes in the climate system in the future. It is clear that analyzing the compositional change of populations, specifically the age composition, the distribution of people in urban and rural areas, and household size and composition, is very important for understanding future needs and potential for mitigating carbon emissions and climate change.

Adapting to climate change will entail a variety of responses, including policies to improve management of climate related risks by enhancing adaptive capacity while easing pressure on resources. The pressure on resources has been linked to a number of causes, key among them population dynamics.

This paper offers the first empirical assessment of the linkages between microfinance supported activities and adaptation to climate change. Specifically, the lending portfolios of the 22 leading microfinance institutions in two climate vulnerable countries – Bangladesh and Nepal - are analysed to assess the synergies and potential conflicts between microfinance and adaptation. The two countries had also been previously examined as part of an earlier OECD report on the links between macro-level Official Development Assistance and adaptation.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a new working paper on “Assessing the Role of Microfinance in Fostering Adaptation to Climate Change”.

This report, as part of the OECD Environmental Working Paper series, is authored by Shardul Agrawala and Maëlis Carraro. The paper offers the first empirical assessment of the linkages between microfinance supported activities and adaptation to climate change. Specifically, the lending portfolios of leading microfinance institutions in two climate vulnerable countries – Bangladesh and Nepal – are analysed to assess the synergies and potential conflicts between microfinance and adaptation. The paper identifies areas of opportunity where microfinance could be harnessed to play a greater role in fostering adaptation, as well as its limitations in this context. It also explores the linkage between the top-down macro-financing for adaptation through international financial mechanisms and the bottom-up activities that can be implemented through microfinance.

Full Report

Without international assistance, developing countries will adapt to climate change as best they can. Part of the cost will be absorbed by households and part by the public sector. Adaptation costs will themselves be affected by socioeconomic development, which will also be affected by climate change. Without a better understanding of these interactions, it will be difficult for climate negotiators and donor institutions to determine the appropriate levels and modes of adaptation assistance.

Synopsis

Budi Haryanto of the University of Indonesia reviews expected global health impacts of climate change, and then outlines both direct and indirect health impacts specific to Indonesia. After setting out specific drivers of the climate change-health nexus in Indonesia, Haryanto summarises the range of current Indonesian research on health impacts. He then sets out adaptation issues and a method for approaching health adaptation assessment.