Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development planning

The report examines the 'mainstreaming' of climate change adaptation into development planning to increase efficiency and avoid policy conflicts. It analyzes three guiding frameworks (Huq and Ayers, UNDP-UNEP, and OECD) and evaluates entry points across different governance levels. The analysis highlights challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, such as the disconnect between disaster management and climate policy, and suggests strategies including the use of a 'climate lens' for screening projects and the adoption of 'no-regrets' strategies.

• Mainstreaming adaptation is intended to provide several benefits, including the avoidance of policy conflicts, reduced vulnerability, and the ability to use larger existing financial flows in affected sectors rather than relying on separate, smaller adaptation funds.
• The OECD framework for mainstreaming introduces a 'climate lens' to analyze strategies, policies, and plans. This tool assesses whether a measure is vulnerable to risks, if those risks were considered, if the measure increases vulnerability elsewhere, and how it can be modified.
• At the national level, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers are potential entry points for mainstreaming because the rural poor are highly vulnerable due to their dependence on climate-sensitive ecosystems. However, these documents often fail to cover environment and disaster management issues.
• In the Asia-Pacific region, a significant barrier to mainstreaming is the institutional separation between disaster risk reduction and climate policy. In Thailand and Vietnam, these responsibilities are split between different ministries, leading to disaster management that is reactive and event-oriented rather than proactive.
• Water resources management is a promising entry point for adaptation, but it has been hindered by a 'command and control' paradigm focused on large-scale infrastructure and centralized optimization, often ignoring stakeholder participation and ecosystem risks.
• Urban planning in developing countries often lacks the capacity to mainstream adaptation, with planners frequently prioritizing land utilization and road networks over environmental concerns and global warming.
• Effective mainstreaming requires shifting the perception of climate change adaptation from being an 'environmental issue' to a 'development issue,' moving responsibility from environmental agencies to ministries directly concerned with development and budgeting.
• To manage uncertainty in climate projections, the report recommends 'no-regrets strategies'—actions that provide benefits regardless of whether the climate changes—as a low-cost and low-risk way to initiate mainstreaming.

APA

Lebel, L., Li, L., Krittasudthacheewa, C., Juntopas, M., Vijitpan, T., Uchiyama, T., & Krawanchid, D. (2012). Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development planning. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/mainstreaming%20climate%20change.pdf

Chicago

Lebel, Louis, Lailai Li, Chayanis Krittasudthacheewa, Muanpong Juntopas, Tatirose Vijitpan, Tomoharu Uchiyama, and Dusita Krawanchid. Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development planning. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2012. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/mainstreaming%20climate%20change.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{lebel2012mainstreaming, author = {Lebel, Louis and Li, Lailai and Krittasudthacheewa, Chayanis and Juntopas, Muanpong and Vijitpan, Tatirose and Uchiyama, Tomoharu and Krawanchid, Dusita}, title = {{Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development planning}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2012}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/mainstreaming%20climate%20change.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }