AdaptNet for 13 July 2010

1. Five Key Dimensions of Maladaptation

2. Role of Microfinance in Fostering Adaptation

3. Framework for Adaptation: Implications for the Government

4. Participatory Scenario Development for Climate Adaptation

5. Adaptive Governance and Climate Change

6. Australia – New Zealand Climate Forum 2010 

Five Key Dimensions of Maladaptation               

The paper defines five distinct pathways through which maladaptation arises; namely actions that: increase emissions of greenhouse gases, disproportionately burden the most vulnerable, have high opportunity costs, reduce incentives to adapt, and set paths that limit the choices available to future generations. It explains these pathways with reference to the responses to water stress in Melbourne, Australia.

Editorial: Maladaptation, Jon Barnett and Saffron O’Neill, Global Environmental Change, vol. 20, pp. 211-213, 2010 [84 KB, PDF]

Role of Microfinance in Fostering Adaptation     

This paper examines the linkages between microfinance supported activities and adaptation to climate change. It assesses the synergies and potential conflicts between microfinance and adaptation by analysing 22 leading microfinance institutions in Bangladesh and Nepal. The paper identifies areas of opportunity where microfinance could be harnessed to play a greater role in fostering adaptation.

Assessing the Role of Microfinance in Fostering Adaptation to Climate Change, Shardul Agrawala and Maëlis Carraro, OECD Environmental Working Paper No. 15, OECD publishing, 2010 [659 KB, PDF] 

Framework for Adaptation: Implications for the Government      

The paper focuses on climate adaptation in the UK. It provides a framework for analysing the role of Government in helping people and businesses adapt to projected changes in climate. The paper provides an analysis of market and other barriers to adaptation by theme, while presenting some options to address those barriers.

Adapting to Climate Change: Analysing the Role of Government, Fererica Cimato and Michael Mullan, Defra Evidence and Analysis Series, Paper 1, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, UK, 2010 [645 KB, PDF] 

Participatory Scenario Development for Climate Adaptation     

The paper provides discussion on the benefits and challenges of stakeholders’ involvement in developing scenarios – referred to as participatory scenario development (PSD). Based on the experiences of a case study in Lake Balaton, it argues that the PSD provides opportunities to integrate development priorities and plans with adaptation needs to address climate change and climate variability.

Participatory Scenario Development for Climate Change Adaptation, Livia Bizikova, Thea Dickinson, and László Pintér, Vol. 60, Number 1, pp. 167-172, December 2009 [102 KB, PDF] 

Adaptive Governance and Climate Change   

This book argues that we need to take a new tack – moving away from reliance on centralized, top-down climate approaches. It shows how adaptive governance fosters the necessary diversity and innovation for climate adaptation. The book focuses on the real-life climate issues faced by Barrow, Alaska – and analyzes how the policies developed to address those issues could be adopted by other communities.

Adaptive Governance and Climate Change, Ronald D. Brunner and Amanda H. Lynch, AMS Books, pp. 424, 2010 [payment required] 

Australia – New Zealand Climate Forum 2010   

Australia – New Zealand Climate Forum 2010 will take place in Hobart from 13-15 October 2010. The guiding theme for the forum is Southern Hemisphere Climate: features · findings · futures, with particular focus on the role of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the climate of Australia and New Zealand. Abstracts may be submitted by 30 July 2010.

Australia – New Zealand Climate Forum 2010 (Southern Hemisphere Climate: features · findings · futures), Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE), 13 to 15 October 2010

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For further information, please contact the editor, Saleem Janjua:adaptnet@rmit.edu.au 

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Saleem Janjua, editor AdaptNet