Increasing Community Resilience to Climate-Related Disasters through Sustainable Livelihoods

This briefing paper outlines a conceptual framework for climate change adaptation that focuses on reducing the vulnerability of poor communities by strengthening sustainable livelihoods through ecosystem management and restoration.

• Climate change is expected to increase globally-averaged surface temperatures by 1.4 to 5.8°C during the current century, with impacts including sea level rise and changes in precipitation and extreme events. These impacts disproportionately affect the poor, who often live on marginal lands like floodplains or steep slopes and rely heavily on ecosystem services, meaning those with the fewest resources have the lowest capacity to adapt.
• Effective climate change adaptation should prioritize actions that target current vulnerabilities and poverty reduction, as communities already struggling with today's climate stresses will become more vulnerable as temperatures rise. Early adaptation efforts relying on General Circulation Models (GCMs) were found to be limited in their ability to provide specific regional impact data.
• A sustainable livelihoods approach to adaptation emphasizes ecosystem management and restoration—such as mangrove reforestation, watershed rehabilitation, and rangeland rehabilitation—to protect natural services. For example, restoring mangroves in Vietnam provides physical protection against storms while simultaneously increasing aquaculture production and income for local communities.
• To operationalize a strategic framework for adaptation, the document advocates for the convergence of four disciplinary and institutional areas: poverty reduction, environmental management, climate and climate change, and disaster risk reduction.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2003). Increasing Community Resilience to Climate-Related Disasters through Sustainable Livelihoods. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/envsec_livelihoods_1.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Increasing Community Resilience to Climate-Related Disasters through Sustainable Livelihoods. 2003. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/envsec_livelihoods_1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Increasing Community Resilience to Climate-Related Disasters through Sustainable Livelihoods |date=1 December 2003 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/envsec_livelihoods_1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2003increasing, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Increasing Community Resilience to Climate-Related Disasters through Sustainable Livelihoods}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2003}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/envsec_livelihoods_1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }