What is adaptation? If mitigation is aiming to 'avoid the unmanageable,' you can think of adaptation as working to 'manage the unavoidable'
Resources and info on adaptation to climate change and protecting health
IPCC 2012 Special Report (key document): 'Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation'.
A useful slide set on 'Health Vulnerability & Adaptation to Climate Change,' by Joy Guillemot of the World Health Organisation.
EU 2009 White Paper 'Adapting to climate change : towards a European framework for action'
The European Commissioner for Climate, Connie Hedegaard, is currently in the process of developing the EU Adaptation Strategy to climate change, which will probably be launched in early 2013 and build on the 2009 White Paper. The overall aim of EU action on adaptation is to enhance the preparedness and the ability of Member States to respond to impacts deriving from climate change.
The UNDP is currently leading a project (Piloting Climate Change Adaptation to Protect Human Health), being implemented in several countries (including Uzbekistan, Kenya, Jordan, Fiji, China, Bhutan, Barbados) in partnership with World Health Organization and the respective Ministries of Health, the objective of which is to “increase the adaptive capacity of national health system institutions, including field practitioners, to respond to climate-sensitive health risks”.
Project components:
There are also many relevant and interesting resources on website of the UNDP's 'Africa Adaptation Programme'
A useful slide set on 'Health Vulnerability & Adaptation to Climate Change,' by Joy Guillemot of the World Health Organisation.
EU 2009 White Paper 'Adapting to climate change : towards a European framework for action'
The European Commissioner for Climate, Connie Hedegaard, is currently in the process of developing the EU Adaptation Strategy to climate change, which will probably be launched in early 2013 and build on the 2009 White Paper. The overall aim of EU action on adaptation is to enhance the preparedness and the ability of Member States to respond to impacts deriving from climate change.
The UNDP is currently leading a project (Piloting Climate Change Adaptation to Protect Human Health), being implemented in several countries (including Uzbekistan, Kenya, Jordan, Fiji, China, Bhutan, Barbados) in partnership with World Health Organization and the respective Ministries of Health, the objective of which is to “increase the adaptive capacity of national health system institutions, including field practitioners, to respond to climate-sensitive health risks”.
Project components:
- Climate change and health early warning and planning systems.
- Institutional and technical capacity to manage climate change health risks.
- Demonstration Measures to reduce vulnerability.
- Regional Cooperation to address climate change health risks.
- Outcome 1: Early warning systems will be adjusted to include climate change induced health risks.
- Outcome 2: Capacity of health sector institutions to respond to climate-sensitive health risks will be improved.
- Outcome 3: Prevention measures piloted in emerging and epidemic risk area.
- Outcome 4: Cooperation among participating countries promotes innovation in adaptation to climate change including variability.
There are also many relevant and interesting resources on website of the UNDP's 'Africa Adaptation Programme'
The inter-relationship of mitigation and adaptation: synergies and trade-offs
From the IPCC's 4th Assessment Report:
"At the national level, mitigation and adaptation are often cast as competing priorities for policy makers (Cohen et al., 1998; Michaelowa, 2001). In other words, interest groups will fight about the limited funds available in a country for addressing climate change, providing analyses of how countries might then make optimal decisions about the appropriate adaptation-mitigation ‘mix’. Using a public choice model, Michaelowa (2001) finds that mitigation will be preferred by societies with a strong climate protection industry and low mitigation costs. Public pressure for adaptation will depend on the occurrence of extreme weather events. As technical adaptation measures will lead to benefits for closely-knit, clearly defined groups who can organize themselves well in the political process, these will benefit from subsidy-financed programmes. Changes in society will become less attractive as benefits are spread more widely.
Nonetheless, at the local level, there is a growing recognition that there are in fact important overlaps, particularly when natural, energy and sequestration systems intersect. Examples include bioenergy, forestry and agriculture (Morlot and Agrawala, 2004). This recognition is thought to be particularly relevant for developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, which rely extensively on natural resources for their energy and development needs. More specifically, there is a growing literature analyzing opportunities for linking adaptation and mitigation in agroforestry systems (Verchot, 2004; Verchot et al., 2005), in forestry and agriculture (Dang et al., 2003), and in coastal systems (Ehler et al., 1997)."
"At the national level, mitigation and adaptation are often cast as competing priorities for policy makers (Cohen et al., 1998; Michaelowa, 2001). In other words, interest groups will fight about the limited funds available in a country for addressing climate change, providing analyses of how countries might then make optimal decisions about the appropriate adaptation-mitigation ‘mix’. Using a public choice model, Michaelowa (2001) finds that mitigation will be preferred by societies with a strong climate protection industry and low mitigation costs. Public pressure for adaptation will depend on the occurrence of extreme weather events. As technical adaptation measures will lead to benefits for closely-knit, clearly defined groups who can organize themselves well in the political process, these will benefit from subsidy-financed programmes. Changes in society will become less attractive as benefits are spread more widely.
Nonetheless, at the local level, there is a growing recognition that there are in fact important overlaps, particularly when natural, energy and sequestration systems intersect. Examples include bioenergy, forestry and agriculture (Morlot and Agrawala, 2004). This recognition is thought to be particularly relevant for developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, which rely extensively on natural resources for their energy and development needs. More specifically, there is a growing literature analyzing opportunities for linking adaptation and mitigation in agroforestry systems (Verchot, 2004; Verchot et al., 2005), in forestry and agriculture (Dang et al., 2003), and in coastal systems (Ehler et al., 1997)."
