Chapter 14: Adaptation Needs and Options
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14.2. Adaptation Needs
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14.2.2. Social Needs
From a social perspective, vulnerability varies as a consequence of the capacity of groups and individuals to reduce and manage the impacts of climate change. Among the key factors determining vulnerability are gender, age, health, social status, ethnicity, and class (Smit et al., 2001; Adger et al., 2009a). For instance, the vulnerability to health-related impacts ofclimate change varies as a consequence of geographical location (Section 11.3.1), gender and age (Section 11.3.3), and socioeconomic status (Section 11.3.4). Poverty and persistent inequality may be the most salient of the conditions that shape climate-related vulnerability (Section 13.1.4). Climate change is expected to have a relatively greater impact on the poor as a consequence of their lack of financial resources, poor quality of shelter, reliance on local ecosystem services, exposure to the elements, and limited provision of basic services and their limited resources to recover from an increasing frequency of losses through climate events (Tol et al., 2004; Huq et al., 2007; Kovats and Akhtar, 2008; Patz et al., 2008; Revi, 2008; Allison et al., 2009; Shikanga et al., 2009; Gething et al., 2010; Moser and Satterthwaite, 2010; Rosenzweig et al., 2010; Skoufias et al., 2012). (...)
14.4. Adaptation Assessments
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14.4.2. Trends in Assessments
The “second generation” vulnerability and adaptation assessments (Burton et al., 2002) pay greater attention to information around vulnerability to inform decisions on adaptation. They are characterized by the intensive involvement of stakeholders and the participation of vulnerable groups in decision-making around adaptation options (Füssel and Klein, 2006; LDC Expert Group, 2012). Local projects often use participatory vulnerability assessment (PVA) methods. In Bangladesh, community-based adaptation has combined consensus-building and participatory rural appraisal (PRA) to assess needs of the communities and propose adaptation actions (Section 15.2.1).In activities by CARE, vulnerability assessments were undertaken with men's and women’s groups separately to ensure activities were gender sensitive (see Section 7.5.2). Participatory vulnerability assessments offer an opportunity to avoid maladaptation by involving stakeholders, for example, in a vulnerability assessment of tourism in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji, where stakeholders were explicitly integrated into each step of the process (Section 29.8)
14.4.4. National Assessments
Under the Cancun Adaptation Framework (CAF), a process was established to enable LDC parties to formulate and implement National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). NAPs are intended to build on NAPAs but shift the focus toward identifying medium- and long-term adaptation needs and developing and implementing strategies and programs to address those needs. NAPs are intended to facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation into relevant national and subnational development and sectoral planning (LDC Expert Group, 2012). Other developing country parties are also invited to employ the modalities formulated to support the national adaptation plans in the elaboration of their planning efforts. Early guidelines (LDC Expert Group, 2009) propose a country-specific approach tailored to national circumstances, mixing top-down policy-first assessments with bottom-up approaches Recent guidelines propose that this should be non-prescriptive and should facilitate country-driven, gender-sensitive, participatory action, taking into consideration vulnerable groups,communities, and ecosystems (LDC Expert Group, 2012). Refer also to Sections 2.4.3 and 15.2.1.2 for further details of national and subnational adaptation planning including NAPAs and NAPs.
