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The SEI Initiative on Transforming Development and Disaster Risk (TDDR) addresses the paradox where development often acts as a root cause of disaster risk rather than a means to reduce it. Using a social-ecological systems (SES) framework, the initiative focuses on three research areas: understanding the interaction between development and risk, exploring equitable social-ecological resilience, and investigating adaptive governance processes. The goal is to generate knowledge and a synthesis framework to transform development into a tool for risk reduction, while monitoring the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The document examines the restoration of 5 million hectares in southern Niger through farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), a locally driven agroforestry practice. It details how FMNR improved food security, household income, and climate resilience while sequestering 25 million tons of carbon. The study identifies key success factors, including the 1989 Rural Code which secured land and tree tenure for farmers, and the role of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and international funding from USAID and IFAD.

The Panama Canal Watershed experienced significant deforestation between 1974 and 1991, with forest cover decreasing by 43 percent. In response to water scarcity risks and the operational needs of the canal, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the Panamanian government implemented a combination of strict legal prohibitions, financial incentives, and active reforestation. By 2010, approximately 18,000 hectares of forest had been restored. Key success factors included the creation of the Interagency Watershed Commission (CICH) and the Environmental Economic Incentives Program, though challenges remain regarding invasive species, land tenure, and community participation.

The briefing outlines three key recommendations for COP 20 negotiators to strengthen climate adaptation in the upcoming 2015 agreement: establishing a qualitative global goal for adaptation, creating a five-year 'adaptation cycle' for continuous improvement and review, and integrating the existing National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process into this cycle to maintain national flexibility.

The document outlines the context for Manitoba's transition to a new climate change and green economy plan, highlighting the province's emissions profile and the critical role of peatlands. It identifies transportation and agriculture as the largest emission sources and discusses the potential for peatlands to either sequester carbon or release GHGs depending on management. The paper also reviews climate policies in other jurisdictions and proposes principles for the new provincial strategy, emphasizing the integration of adaptation and mitigation.

The paper examines the feasibility of a regional adaptation strategy for the Nordic countries, noting that while the region possesses strong institutional and economic capacity for resilience, the need for adaptation remains substantial.

The report argues that the Zero Draft of the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction lacks coherence in its organising logic and fails to sufficiently integrate critical drivers of risk such as climate change, conflict, and poverty. It recommends a restructured framework focused on minimising new risks, reducing existing risks, and managing residual risks, while calling for stronger financial commitments and a more inclusive approach to vulnerable groups and fragile states.

The document argues that traditional food security monitoring focuses too heavily on outputs and outcomes, which are often difficult to attribute to specific actions. It proposes 'process-based indicators' as proxies to measure the quality of decision-making, institutional capacity, and inclusivity. Using the FIPAT tool in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, the authors identify key indicators across six areas: policy vulnerability, system resilience, decision-making transparency, multistakeholder participation, lessons learned, and decentralization. The briefing emphasizes that effective food security policies require inclusive participation of vulnerable groups, empowered local decision-makers, and a shift in institutional culture to view policy review as a dynamic, non-punitive process.

The author contends that climate change is the primary challenge to sustainable development and that the post-2015 framework must include a dedicated climate goal and integrated targets to avoid undermining poverty eradication efforts. While the current SDG report includes these elements, the author warns that some countries oppose the climate goal due to perceived overlaps with the UNFCCC. The document asserts that the post-2015 framework should complement, not replace, the UNFCCC and can provide momentum for the COP21 agreement.

The report provides a guide for city practitioners to build climate resilience in African cities, specifically focusing on the challenges of informality and inequality. It proposes an eight-step process for climate compatible development that integrates climate dynamics with socioeconomic and political dimensions, ranging from developing a vision and mapping linkages to the informal sector to assessing vulnerabilities and tracking progress.

The Agricultural Supply Chain Adaptation Facility (ASCAF) is a proposed financing mechanism to help small- and medium-sized farmers in the Latin America and Caribbean region invest in climate-resilient agricultural measures. By using donor-backed first-loss guarantees and technical assistance provided through Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), ASCAF aims to enable agribusiness corporations to extend medium- to long-term loans (5-7 years) to their suppliers. The facility targets 'tight' value chains for high-value crops like coffee, sugarcane, and cocoa to reduce credit risks and capacity gaps. If scaled, the facility could potentially protect or increase the revenues of 63,000 to 420,000 farming households by 2030, with a total market investment potential estimated between USD 2.5 billion and USD 4.4 billion for four sample crops.

The report details an action research programme in Gorakhpur, India, aimed at incorporating climate change projections and vulnerability analysis into local disaster management planning. It highlights the use of 'Shared Learning Dialogues' and the Climate Resilience Framework to bridge gaps between national policy and local implementation, resulting in a climate-sensitive DDMP and state-level government orders to integrate disaster risk reduction into annual development plans.

The case study examines an irrigation project in Ruti, Zimbabwe, implemented by Oxfam and the government. It finds that while local adaptation efforts can significantly increase production and resilience for smallholder farmers, these gains are precarious without a broader supportive political and economic framework, especially as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of droughts and rainfall.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) asserts that climate change is the most critical sustainable development challenge and that sustainable energy access is a primary lever for eradicating poverty. The authors call for the final text of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to explicitly include both climate mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as the scaling up of sustainable energy access, to ensure global action and partnership between public and private sectors.

The document calls for the business and insurance sectors to stop funding climate denialism and instead catalyze ambitious action to limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius. It highlights the role of fossil fuel companies in subverting legislative action and the severe economic costs of climate change, citing the Philippines as an example. The author advocates for holding company directors personally liable for misleading the public about climate risks and urges insurers to reconsider providing coverage for anti-climate activities.

The document analyzes how successive IPCC reports have transitioned from documenting the impacts of sea-level rise to advocating for flexible, integrated adaptation pathways. It highlights that coastal vulnerability is driven by a combination of climate factors—such as rising sea levels and storminess—and human activities like urbanization and dam construction. The author argues that future coastal management must prioritize resilience, cost-effectiveness, and nature-based solutions within a broader socioeconomic framework that addresses immediate human needs alongside long-term climate risks.

The document outlines a systems-based approach to measuring food system resilience, moving beyond narrow food availability metrics to include supporting infrastructure and governance. Using the CRiSTAL Food Security tool across 20 communities in Honduras and Nicaragua, the authors identify key resilience drivers such as storage, energy, transport, and water management. It argues that participatory, iterative processes for developing indicators are essential for community buy-in and that these broad indicators should complement existing food security monitoring schemes.

The document examines how urban and peri-urban agriculture and forestry (UPAF) are integrated into climate change action plans and the specific monitoring data required by city governments and international organisations to finance and implement these interventions. It highlights that climate change, combined with the loss of urban green cover, threatens infrastructure and quality of life, while rapid urban growth and climate-driven agricultural disruptions increase food insecurity for the urban poor.

The document provides a strategy for the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) to lead private sector engagement with the Kenyan government on climate change. It identifies climate change as a threat to economic growth and productivity, noting that droughts and flooding cost Kenya approximately 2.4% of GDP annually. The strategy focuses on three pillars: leading government dialogue, sharing information with members, and building climate resilience. A detailed one-year work plan includes establishing communication processes, developing policy positions on the Climate Change Bill, and creating climate risk assessment tools. The report emphasizes the need for high-level board commitment and internal resource allocation to avoid the failures of previous initiatives like the Climate Business Information Network (CBIN).

The document identifies five priority policy intersections for the SADC region, noting that over half of the region's countries have economies where fewer than eight sectors account for 75 per cent of exports, primarily focusing on minerals or agriculture.