Search Climate Insights Directory

Senegal is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its dependence on rain-fed agriculture and fisheries, and a population concentrated along a coastline exposed to sea level rise. While the government has established coordinating bodies like the National Climate Change Committee and identified priority sectors in its NAPA and INDC, the report finds that climate adaptation is not yet effectively mainstreamed into most national sectoral policies or subnational planning. Current adaptation projects primarily target agriculture, water resources, and disaster risk management, often using ecosystem-based approaches, but gaps remain in the health and tourism sectors.

Uganda faces significant climate risks, particularly in its semi-arid northern regions and the 'cattle corridor,' where rising temperatures and rainfall variability threaten agriculture, water, and health. While the government has established a National Climate Change Policy and a coordinating institutional structure, adaptation mainstreaming into sectoral plans and district-level decision-making remains limited. International adaptation finance is heavily concentrated in the agriculture and water sectors, leaving gaps in fisheries, forestry, and health. The country is currently working toward a National Adaptation Plan to better integrate climate resilience into its goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2040.

Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to sea level rise, flooding, and cyclones, leading the government to establish early adaptation frameworks like the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) and the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP). While the country has created dedicated institutions and funds, such as the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF), adaptation efforts have predominantly focused on large-scale infrastructure in coastal urban areas, often neglecting sectors like livestock and regions prone to drought. Despite being a major recipient of international climate finance, disbursement remains fragmented, and there is a significant gap between planned budgets and actual leveraged funds.

The document argues that climate change adaptation measures involving green and blue areas provide significant co-benefits for human health, which are often overlooked in policy design. It develops a conceptual framework based on five pathways: prevention of climate and pollution effects, improvement of ecosystem quality, social environment benefits, economic activity development, and interaction with microorganisms. The authors review existing literature using objective, self-reported, and mixed methodologies, finding a generally positive but inconsistent correlation between natural environments and health outcomes, with green areas being more extensively studied than blue areas.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) evaluated the land sector (AFOLU) plans within the initial INDCs of the US, EU, and Mexico. The analysis finds a stark contrast between developed and developing nations: while the US and EU provide reasonable accounting standards, they lack specific action plans to realize their substantial mitigation potentials. In contrast, Mexico provides a highly transparent and ambitious plan, including a goal of zero deforestation by 2030 and a target for emissions to peak and decline by 2026. The report emphasizes that the land sector is critical for closing the global emissions gap, but current INDCs from developed nations are insufficient in detail to determine if their ambitions match their capacities.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) identifies five high-impact investment priorities: climate-compatible cities, sustainable climate-smart agriculture, forest finance, resilience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and transforming energy generation and access. The analysis emphasizes a holistic approach that integrates mitigation and adaptation, particularly in Africa and Asia. It highlights the role of the Private Sector Facility (PSF) in mobilizing capital for adaptation—a historically underfunded area—and suggests using targeted calls for proposals to balance the investment portfolio.

The document examines the integration of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and community-based adaptation (CbA) through the EU-funded EcoAdapt project. By utilizing the Model Forests approach in Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile, the project sought to develop long-term climate adaptation strategies for water resources. The integration aims to combine the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services with the empowerment of local communities to identify their own needs. Key benefits identified include increased community ownership, a better understanding of socio-ecological interconnections, and a more holistic view of large-scale environmental processes. However, the project faced challenges such as waning community motivation, inclusive participation gaps—specifically with cattle ranchers in Bolivia—and instabilities within the public sector. The briefing concludes that successful up-scaling requires a socio-ecological systems approach, secure finance, supportive public policies, and the development of accessible tools for local actors.

The document highlights the lack of a comprehensive coastal climate risk policy in Ghana and argues for the integration of community knowledge and multi-stakeholder engagement to achieve effective coastal resilience.

The document details a project led by the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) at the University of Ghana to build coastal resilience through community-based reciprocal learning and the CRiSTAL tool. It highlights the critical need to integrate local knowledge into national policy, as Ghana's existing top-down planning lacks local ownership and specific district-level implementation plans. Key achievements include the creation of district-level contingency plans and a community-based climate change adaptation fund in Totope. The study argues that long-term resilience requires decentralization, multi-stakeholder engagement, and the empowerment of vulnerable populations to lead their own survival strategies rather than relying on disaster relief.

The document examines the critical role of dryland forests in Southern Africa, highlighting their vulnerability to deforestation and climate change. It proposes a 'nexus approach' to overcome the marginalisation of the forestry sector by demonstrating its interdependencies with water, energy, and food security. The author argues that integrated landscape management and multi-sectoral policy coordination can identify win-win solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation, such as agroforestry and payment for watershed services.

The interior of Southern Africa faces severe climate impacts, including temperature increases of up to 6°C by 2100, which threaten dryland forests. These ecosystems, comprising Miombo and Kalahari Woodland biomes, are already degraded by land-use changes and over-use. The author argues that current SADC forestry policies are too sector-based and lack specific adaptation guidance for dryland forests. To build resilience, the document recommends a shift toward Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), full-cost accounting of natural capital, and the creation of landscape connectivity to allow species migration. It emphasizes the role of community-based management and the use of non-timber forest products as socio-economic safety nets for the millions of people dependent on these forests.

The document defines Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) as the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services to help communities adapt to climate change, positioning it as a cost-effective, 'no-regrets' alternative or complement to traditional infrastructure. While international organizations like the UNFCCC, UNEP, and the World Bank have begun integrating EbA, the author argues it remains under-utilized by national governments due to gaps in technical information, limited on-the-ground effectiveness data, and a preference for short-term 'hard' engineering solutions. The brief recommends increased research into ecosystem service complexities and stronger financial commitments to mainstream EbA into global policy.

The document outlines the IPCC WGII AR5 findings, emphasizing that climate risk is a product of hazards, exposure, and vulnerability. It advocates for a 'solution space' for adaptation that includes structural, institutional, and social measures, while noting that adaptation has limits and must be paired with strong mitigation to avoid irreversible tipping points.

The document outlines SEI's approach to climate adaptation, emphasizing that vulnerability is driven more by socioeconomic conditions than by climate exposure. It argues that adaptation and development are inextricably linked and that adaptation has inherent limits, meaning it cannot replace mitigation. The briefing also details SEI's global initiatives, such as the weADAPT platform and the Asia Adaptation Knowledge Platform, and identifies future research priorities including the role of gender, culture, and the private sector in adaptation.

The document details the creation of the 'Guidelines for Adaptation to Climate Change in Cartagena de Indias', the first of its kind for a South American coastal city. It highlights the city's vulnerabilities to sea level rise, flooding, and ecosystem degradation, while outlining a participatory process involving 64 stakeholder groups to mainstream adaptation into zoning and land-use policies. The brief emphasizes that while the guidelines provide a framework, the process requires sustained capacity building and political commitment to overcome the opportunity costs of adaptation and the skepticism of investors.

The report identifies systemic barriers to integrated climate governance in Belize, Nepal, and Tanzania, such as fragmented institutional mandates and the narrow framing of climate change as solely an environmental issue. It advocates for 'collective learning' and systems thinking to bridge gaps between sectors and governance levels, highlighting the potential of payment for ecosystem services (PES) and the role of civil society as 'boundary organisations' to foster collaboration.

The document examines the Asia and the Pacific region as a critical driver of global environmental outcomes, highlighting its role as the fastest-growing region with rapidly rising greenhouse gas emissions. It argues that while some progress has been made in mitigation and adaptation, urgent action is needed to achieve low-carbon, climate-resilient societies. The text identifies key pressures from unsustainable economic growth, population increase, and urbanization, and recommends integrated water management, the '3Rs' approach to waste, and governance improvements to ensure sustainable development.

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.

The document highlights the critical role of healthy ecosystems in reducing the impacts of climate extremes and disasters. It argues that ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is often a more cost-effective and accessible strategy than hard engineering, providing co-benefits for livelihoods and biodiversity. The brief details how climate extremes—such as heat waves, droughts, and floods—can lead to species extinction, regime shifts in ecosystems, and the transformation of carbon sinks into sources. It emphasizes that disaster risk is driven not only by climate events but by vulnerability and exposure resulting from skewed development. The report advocates for a paradigm shift toward transformational changes in governance and the integration of disaster risk management (DRM) with climate change adaptation (CCA) to build long-term resilience.

The document translates the IPCC SREX report's findings into actionable insights for the water sector, emphasizing that disaster risk is increasing due to both climate extremes and rising human vulnerability. It highlights the high confidence that climate changes will seriously affect water management systems and argues for a shift from incremental to transformational changes in governance and infrastructure. The brief advocates for 'low regrets' adaptation strategies and the integration of disaster risk management (DRM) with climate change adaptation (CCA) to build long-term resilience.