Introduction: Progress in adaptation

Rachel Berger and Jonathan Ensor

The global context for community-based adaptation (CBA) is of an increasing certainty of a global temperature rise greater than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, and an absence of adequate action on mitigation. In some parts of the world, the severity of environmental impacts may exceed the conditions for effective adaptation. The chapter reviews the progress in understanding of CBA and the emerging literature from research as well as from field programmes. It defines CBA, and also adaptive capacity, a key element in adaptation, and looks at conceptual frameworks for understanding CBA. The importance of social networks, diversification and innovation and the power relations inherent in access to resources are briefly examined, concepts that are developed more fully in the thematic chapters. Brief introductions to the themes of the case study chapters follow, and the chapter concludes with some outstanding challenges for researchers, practitioners and policy makers.

Keywords: community-based adaptation, climate change, definitions, networks and conferences, adaptive capacity, transformation, scaling up

The global context

This book is being published at a time of paradox. The science is becoming explicit about the certainty and speed with which the earth's climate is changing, and the rapidly diminishing time available for taking action to prevent dangerous climate change. If action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is not taken rapidly, global mean surface temperatures are projected to continue to increase, and there is a high degree of probability of the rise exceeding 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century. We therefore have very few years in which to take the drastic action necessary to stabilize the climate, and yet the probability of timely international action commensurate with the need is small; in the most powerful countries, action on climate change is low on the political agenda compared with economic growth and securing energy supplies.

In 10 years we have moved from a time when it was possible for some to believe that mitigation (reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases) would be sufficient action, and adaptation to climate change would be needed only in certain places, to the realization that in many parts of the world adaptation will soon no longer be possible, because of the severity of the environmental changes consequent upon climate change – changes such as sea-level rise, longer droughts and increased frequency of flooding. In these 10 years, the realization that the impact of climate change falls most heavily on populations that are already vulnerable, and who have contributed least to the problem, has led to the growth of activity – academic research, action research by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and internationally funded programmes of on-the-ground work – to support communities in understanding the challenges that climate change is presenting, and in adapting to them.

Defining community-based adaptation

Community-based adaptation (CBA) to climate change is a community-led process, based on communities' priorities, needs, knowledge and capacities, which seeks to empower people to prepare for and cope with the impacts of climate change (Reid et al., 2009). CBA comprises several components and is rooted in participatory development programmes to strengthen livelihoods and reduce vulnerability, as well as disaster risk reduction thinking to build resilience to climate-related disasters. As Reid and colleagues explain, 'CBA needs to start with communities' expressed needs and perceptions, and to have poverty reduction and livelihood benefits' (2009). Several components are specific to the challenge of dealing with future climate change: the need for scientific information on seasonal forecasts, long-term climate predictions, and local trends in temperature and rainfall, combined with local knowledge and previously successful coping strategies (Ensor and Berger 2009). Climate change modelling embodies considerable uncertainty both about the predictability of longer-term changes in the face of possible tipping points such as the melting of permafrost and Arctic sea ice, and about the changes at sub-regional levels. Dealing with uncertainty is thus a crucial element of CBA and involves building capacity to make decisions that will minimize the risk to livelihoods and assets of an extreme event, and building in an ability to cope with constant change. Dealing with uncertainty and change is likely to involve experimentation and innovation, developing new ways of producing food and earning a living. Another key component of CBA is access to information and knowledge – whether scientific knowledge about new crop varieties, or technologies that will use scarce resources more effectively. Knowledge is power, and poor people are marginalized because they lack power over key resources – including land, water and information. CBA must therefore assist people to organize effectively to participate in local decision-making processes and to mobilize to challenge situations that affect their ability to adapt to climate change.

'Community-based adaptation' is still a relatively new concept, not widely known outside the development community. As a term it has a cosiness, a universal acceptability – who could possibly disagree with a set of interventions aimed at helping poor people cope with current and likely future challenges posed by the changing climate? Buried in this term, though, are two words, the meanings of which need unpacking and examining for the assumptions and concepts embedded within them if there is to be real and long-lasting support for vulnerable people in addressing the uncertain futures that climate change will bring. 'Community' is a term used to describe a group of people with common interests, and in development it is generally used to describe people living in the same village or area. It assumes that people in that particular locality will face shared challenges and therefore will have an interest in working jointly to address those challenges. Place is an important factor in determining vulnerabilities due to climate change, but other factors may have as great, or greater, impact. Even in the smallest villages there is diversity of resources and skills. Within households there will be customary roles and values that will lead to some members being disadvantaged in accessing information, skills and resources that would help them address existing and new challenges to their livelihoods. Access to the resources needed for adaptation is not just about their physical location but about power relations both within a community and beyond. Communities are also not merely place-related: people are members of several communities, depending on age, gender, employment, cultural groupings, and so on. Support and skills for adaptation may be drawn on from these other communities. Unpacking the meaning of 'community' and the extent to which adaptation in one location will involve activity across scales of governance is a theme considered by Yates in Chapter 2 and returned to in the conclusion.

In recent years, several conceptual frameworks have been developed for CBA, and most of them include the elements noted above. The framework put forward in Ensor and Berger (2009) and further developed in Ensor (2011) underpins this book, describing adaptation in terms of vulnerability reduction, absorbing capacity and adaptive capacity. These terms refer to the different ways in which adaptation efforts may address the challenges of climate change: by aiming to reduce vulnerability to particular impacts, such as flooding; by improving the capacity to cope with a broad array of threats, such as through livelihood diversification; and by increasing the ability of households and communities to make changes in response to experienced or anticipated climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines adaptive capacity as 'the property of a system to adjust its characteristics or behaviour, in order to expand its coping range under existing climate variability, or future climate conditions' (Brooks et al., 2005). While adaptation can be undertaken as a response to a climate-related problem, enhancing the adaptive capacity of local communities to climate change implies an approach to adaptation that is forward looking.

Adaptive capacity takes adaptation beyond reduction of vulnerability to hazards and disaster preparedness, involving an ongoing change process where communities can make decisions about their lives and livelihoods in a changing climate (Ensor, 2011). Adaptive capacity must also focus on addressing the political, cultural and socioeconomic factors that may promote or inhibit individuals and groups from adapting (Smit and Pilifosova, 2001). Institutions and governance have therefore increasingly been recognized as central to adaptive capacity (Eakin and Lemos, 2010; Engle, 2011; Gupta et al., 2010), directing attention both to formal decision-making processes and to the role of social norms and practices in guiding choices and actions. In Ensor (2011), adaptive capacity is considered in terms of the processes that must be in place if communities are to be able to make changes to their lives and livelihoods in response to emerging environmental change. Acquisition of skills, resources and information is dependent in turn on access to and control of the material and knowledge assets that will determine the range of options that communities have at their disposal. As a result, three broad and interlinked dimensions are seen as central to development efforts to secure adaptive capacity: addressing power relationships and decision-making institutions; the control, distribution and generation of knowledge; and opportunities for experimentation and innovation. While adaptive capacity was given limited attention in the case studies reported by Ensor and Berger (2009), each of these areas is addressed in different ways by the contributors to this volume. As discussed in the concluding chapter, attention is directed to relationships and networks; the distribution of power, knowledge and influence; and the implications of culture and gender. This view also invites CBA practitioners to engage with different geographical scales, meaning that for effective adaptation local communities may need to link or engage with actors and institutions located in different and sometimes distant locations.

Community-based adaptation: the current state of play

CBA has grown from pilot testing of new approaches to an emerging field of development studies embracing conceptual frameworks, governance, power structures, change and uncertainty, all in the context of underlying poverty, vulnerability and inequity of resource distribution and access. Academic interest and NGO programme activity in the field of adaptation are increasing rapidly, with the establishment of postgraduate programmes in climate change and development at several universities, including the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University of Bangladesh. That department is partnered with 11 international NGOs in a programme called Action Research for Community Adaptation in Bangladesh, involving 20 field sites in different ecological zones. Knowledge and experience gained in Bangladesh will be transferred to other countries where the partners operate.

There is an increasing body of followers, practitioners and researchers with an academic and professional interest in CBA, and an increasing awareness of the field among developing country governments. In 2010 the first conference to focus on adaptation science was held in Australia. It brought together around 1,000 climate change adaptation experts and practitioners from NGOs, research institutions, universities and professional organizations from over 50 countries. The themes covered included understanding and communicating adaptation, adaptation in different sectors, grassroots case studies, frameworks for adaptation, and human welfare aspects of adaptation (community, social, equity, health). A key challenge highlighted was the multidisciplinary nature, encompassing livelihoods, infrastructure, disaster risk reduction, economics, food security, ecosystems and sustainable development. A second conference in the series was held in Arizona in 2012, focusing on adaptation to climate variability and change, and looking at equity and risk, learning, capacity building, methodologies, adaptation finance and investment, and ecosystem-based adaptation approaches. It explored practical adaptation policies and approaches, and strategies for decision making from the international to the local scale. These conferences are only two high-profile examples from the many gatherings that have touched on the challenges presented by climate change. Their scale, however, is illustrative of the growing level of academic, government and NGO interest in the field as well as the breadth of issues that are encompassed by the term 'adaptation'.

Despite the growing awareness of the need for adaptation both in developing and developed countries, it is an understatement to say that adaptation is seriously underfunded. While adaptation is integrally linked to development, the World Bank estimates that the cost of adaptation in developing countries will be about $75 billion to $100 billion by 2020, above and beyond the baseline cost of development (World Bank, 2010). Recent studies suggest that developing countries will need funds in the range of $100 billion to $450 billion a year for adaptation actions. Currently, funding totals are a fraction of this figure – $2.6 billion pledged as of November 2012, but $1.9 billion delivered so far (Schalatek et al., 2012). The funds available flow through a number of channels, including the European Union's Global Climate Change Alliance, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC's) Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund. Recently, the UNFCCC's Adaptation Fund and the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience of the World Bank's Climate Investment Funds have added significantly to the funds approved.

While international funding for climate change adaptation is still woefully inadequate, an increasing number of developing countries are beginning to plan for adaptation to climate change, in recognition of the fact that many of the resources needed will have to come from a shift in allocation and prioritization of governments' own budgets, and from private investment. Among vulnerable countries, Bangladesh and Kenya already have a climate change strategy and Nepal has one in preparation. The UNFCCC process set up an Adaptation Committee at COP17 in Durban, which has met and has begun its programme of work. This includes offering guidance on preparing national adaptation plans. The UNFCCC Adaptation Fund has been meeting since 2008 to disburse funds for projects and programmes that are submitted by developing country governments and that meet the Fund's criteria.

Because of the poor outlook for an adequate global agreement to prevent dangerous climate change, there is a critical need for considerable effort to be put into research that will help those most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. In working with poor and vulnerable people, one objective must always be to seek to address the pressing needs of people struggling to cope now. While the sustainability of CBA activities, in terms of relevance and durability over the longer term, may well be challenged by more rapid climate change or more extreme events than could be foreseen or addressed, there is no doubt about the urgency and importance of CBA in the coming years. Currently, adaptation funds are allocated to a range of adaptation activities, including large-scale infrastructure such as dams and sea walls, national planning for adaptation and disaster preparedness, and to many countries that are not among the poorest. Within the countries receiving funds, the most vulnerable communities are unlikely to be seeing a direct benefit, since CBA is rarely a national priority. This may be beginning to change. The Adaptation Fund has a set of criteria for project appraisal, which include addressing specific climate-related vulnerabilities and involving a wide variety of stakeholders, including affected communities, in both the design of the programme or project and its implementation. Nepal is leading the way by looking to implement adaptation through local adaptation programmes of action.