1st Edition

Climate Change Adaptation and Development Transforming Paradigms and Practices

    312 Pages 34 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    312 Pages 34 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Climate change poses multiple challenges to development. It affects lives and livelihoods, infrastructure and institutions, as well as beliefs, cultures and identities. There is a growing recognition that the social dimensions of vulnerability and adaptation now need to move to the forefront of development policies and practices.

    This book presents case studies showing that climate change is as much a problem of development as for development, with many of the risks closely linked to past, present and future development pathways. Development policies and practices can play a key role in addressing climate change, but it is critical to question to what extent such actions and interventions reproduce, rather than address, the social and political structures and development pathways driving vulnerability. The chapters emphasise that adaptation is about much more than a set of projects or interventions to reduce specific impacts of climate change; it is about living with change while also transforming the processes that contribute to vulnerability in the first place.

    This book will help students in the field of climate change and development to make sense of adaptation as a social process, and it will provide practitioners, policymakers and researchers working at the interface between climate change and development with useful insights for approaching adaptation as part of a larger transformation to sustainability.

    1. Development as Usual is not Enough Siri Eriksen, Tor Håkon Inderberg, Karen O’Brien and Linda Sygna  2. Building Adaptive Capacity in the Informal Settlements of Maputo: Lessons for Development from a Resilience Perspective Jon Ensor, Emily Boyd, Sirrku Juhola, and Castan Broto  3. The Societal Role of Charcoal Production in Climate Change Adaptation of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) of Kenya Caroline Ochieng, Sirkku Juhola, and Francis X. Johnson  4. Adaptive Capacity: From coping to sustainable transformation Christine Wamsler and Ebba Brink  5. Gender Matters: Adaptive capacities to climate variability and change in the Lake Victoria Basin Sara Gabrielsson  6. Adaptation Technologies as Drivers of Social Development Sara Trærup and Lars Christiansen  7. Multilevel Governance and Coproduction in Urban Flood-risk Management: The case of Dar es Salaam Trond Vedeld, Wilbard Kombe, Clara Kweka Msale, and Siri Bjerkreim Hellevik  8. Can Linking Small- and Large-scale Farmers Enhance Adaptive Capacity? Evidence from Tanzania’s Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor Jennifer West  9. Adaptation Spinoffs from Technological and Socio-economic Changes Julie Wilk, Mattias Hjerpe and Birgitte Rydhagen  10. Sustainable Adaptation under Adverse Development? Lessons from Ethiopia Siri H. Eriksen and Andrei Marin  11. The Role of Local Power Relations in the Vulnerability of Households to Climate Change in Humla, Nepal Sigrid Nagoda and Siri H. Eriksen  12. A Socionature Approach to Adaptation: Political transition, intersectionality, and climate change programmes in Nepal Andrea Nightingale  13. Influencing Policy and Action on Climate Change Adaptation: Strategic stakeholder engagement in the agricultural sector in Tanzania.Kassim Kulindwa and Baruani Mshale  14. Limited Room for Manoeuvre: Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Jacob Kronik and Jennifer Hays  15. Adaptation to Climate Change through Transformation Karen O’Brien, Siri Eriksen, Tor Håkon Inderberg and Linda Sygna

    Biography

    Tor Håkon Inderberg is Senior Research Fellow and Director of the European Programme at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway.

    Siri Eriksen is Associate Professor at the Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway.

    Karen O'Brien is a Professor of Human Geography at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Norway.

    Linda Sygna is Co-Founder of cCHANGE – Transformation in a Changing climate, cchange.no.

    "This book represents a substantial addition to the growing body of knowledge in the field of adaptation to the consequences of climate change. It does it not just by bringing together a series of analysis of specific adaptation challenges but also, and possibly much more valuable, by highlighting the need for transformation of the development process itself in pursuit of durable resilience. We are bound to hear more about this concept as the understanding of enabling conditions for adaptation becomes more transparent. It is an aspect of sustainability, in a warming world, that is both urgent and critical."Walter Vergara, Former leader of the Global Expert Team On climate change adaptation at the World Bank and Former head of climate change at Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Senior Fellow World Resources Institute, USA

    "Although everyone talks about the relationship between adaptation and development, very few initiatives – if any – take a radical enough approach for sustainable adaptation to happen.  This book, edited by dedicated ambassadors of the message that transformational development is necessary, will have a profound impact on our understanding of these issues."Lisa Schipper, Adaptation and Vulnerability Researcher and Research Associate, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), UK

    "This book is a first rate and stimulating contribution to the complex issue of climate change adaptation and development. It is an authoritative and meticulously researched treatise that contributes to critical understanding by unravelling the intertwined relationship between climate change adaptation and development. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in any aspect of climate change adaptation and development." Youba Sokona, Special Advisor of Sustainable Development, South Centre, Switzerland, Co-Chair Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group III and Member of Future Earth Science Committee

    "Climate change adaptation projects are expected to increase in numbers. There is a need for an inclusive approach, engaging with local communities, and paying attention to vulnerability aspects. Therefore, this book is highly recommended reading to all development and climate change policy-level stakeholders, financiers, and practitioners."Heidi Hautala, Member of the Development Committee of the European Parliament and former Minister for International Development of Finland

    "The old fault-lines of whether vulnerability is structural or technical emerge in the new challenges of adaptation. Dabbling at the edges is not enough. Take the concrete lessons in this book as your evidence for profound change-making that transforms our future."Thomas E Downing, CEO, Oxford Centre for Innovation, UK