Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development planning

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute reviews approaches and lessons learned for integrating climate change adaptation into development planning, with a specific focus on the Asia-Pacific region. It examines the multi-level nature of planning—national, sectoral, and sub-national—and proposes strategies to avoid policy conflicts and leverage existing financial flows to reduce vulnerability.

• Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development planning is intended to increase efficiency and reduce risks by integrating adaptation into existing policies rather than creating separate institutions. Expected benefits include avoiding policy conflicts, reducing vulnerability, and leveraging larger financial flows already present in affected sectors.
• Mainstreaming is a multi-level process where national planning provides the framework for sectoral and sub-national levels. Key national interventions include applying a 'climate lens' to sectoral plans and reallocating budgets to more vulnerable regions or sectors.
• The report identifies several entry points for mainstreaming within sectors: applying a climate lens during policy formulation to avoid maladaptation, including specific adaptation activities during planning, screening project proposals during resource allocation, and introducing monitoring and evaluation to track performance.
• In the Asia-Pacific region, poverty reduction strategy papers are viewed as useful entry points because the rural poor depend on climate-sensitive ecosystems. However, evidence from Nepal suggests that while a large portion of official development assistance (ODA) goes to climate-affected activities, poverty reduction papers often ignore these risks.
• Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a primary entry point for adaptation, but integration is often hindered by the fact that disaster management is traditionally event-oriented and reactive. Furthermore, responsibilities are often split between different ministries, such as the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Thailand.
• Water resources management offers a promising entry point due to existing experience with climate variability. However, a traditional 'command and control' paradigm focusing on large-scale infrastructure often ignores risks to other users and ecosystems.
• At the sub-national level, urban planning faces barriers such as inflexible traditions that prioritize land utilization and road networks over environmental concerns. In Bangkok, for example, flood disaster management has been updated to reflect that 100-year floods may now occur every 50 years.
• Effective mainstreaming requires shifting the perception of climate change adaptation from an environmental issue to a development issue. When responsibilities move from environmental agencies to ministries directly concerned with development, it is more likely that adaptation will receive adequate budgets and decision-maker acknowledgement.
• The report suggests using 'no-regrets' strategies—actions that provide benefits regardless of whether the climate changes—as a low-cost, low-risk way to mainstream adaptation without requiring highly detailed future climate projections.
• A significant limitation to adaptation planning is the exclusion of local insight and knowledge. The report emphasizes that because vulnerability is context-specific, national plans must enable locally appropriate responses and increase public participation.

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

{{cite report |last1=Lebel |first1=Louis |last2=Li |first2=Lailai |last3=Krittasudthacheewa |first3=Chayanis |last4=Juntopas |first4=Muanpong |last5=Vijitpan |first5=Tatirose |last6=Uchiyama |first6=Tomoharu |last7=Krawanchid |first7=Dusita |title=Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development planning |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=26 February 2012 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/mainstreaming%20climate%20change.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

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} }