Adapting to Climate Variability : Learning from Past Experience and the Role of Institutions
Adaptation to human-induced climate change is currently receiving a lot of attention in international development circles. But throughout human existence, natural resource-dependent people have exploited and coped with the effects of climate variab...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/891471468326972530/Adapting-to-climate-variability-learning-from-past-experience-and-the-role-of-institutions http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26896 |
| Summary: | Adaptation to human-induced climate
change is currently receiving a lot of attention in
international development circles. But throughout human
existence, natural resource-dependent people have exploited
and coped with the effects of climate variability on the
ecosystems from which they derive a living. Learning from
this experience can help inform the design of appropriate
policies for responding to human-induced climate change.
This paper presents the results of a World Bank study which
sought to better understand the role of local institutions
in supporting adaptation to climate variability and change
in Ethiopia, Mali and Yemen. The study raised three
questions. First, what strategies have been adopted by rural
households in the past to adapt to climate variability?
Second, to what extent do institutions of various sorts
assist households in adopting adaptation strategies? And
third, what are the factors that prevent households from
adopting appropriate adaptation strategies? For the purposes
of this paper, institutions are defined as structured,
formal or informal organizations. The study followed a
three-step approach. First, drawing on original data from
field surveys, focus group discussions and institutional
stakeholder interviews, household vulnerability to climate
variability was characterized in terms of its three
constituent elements: exposure to climate-related shocks and
stresses, and sensitivity and adaptive capacity in the face
of such stressors. Sensitivity refers to the degree to which
people are affected by climate variability and change. High
levels of exposure and sensitivity and low levels of
adaptive capacity generally result in high levels of
vulnerability. But a high level of exposure need not
necessarily result in a high level of vulnerability if the
household's adaptive capacity is also high. |
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