Adapting to Climate Variability and Change
  |
| Waterfall, Usumacinta River, Sierra Lacandón
National Park, El Petén, Guatemala. |
Overview
We now know that our climate is changing: this is evident from increases in global average air and
ocean temperatures, melting of snow and ice, and rising sea levels. Adaptation refers to efforts to
cope with the impacts of current climate variability and future climate change. Rising
temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, shifts in seasons, and rising seas are some of the
expected manifestations of climate change. Resulting impacts on water resources, coastal zones,
agricultural productivity, and the ranges of diseases could affect both human and ecological systems.
Developing countries are particularly vulnerable to environmental, political, and socio-economic
change. Even small disruptions can alter progress toward essential development goals. In economies
and societies that heavily depend on natural resources, short and long-term changes in climate can
challenge the long-term sustainability of development advances. Resources that must be diverted to
recovering from climate-related damages cannot be dedicated to other sustainable development goals.
Development assistance programs need to be resilient to changing climate and environmental conditions
to ensure long-term effectiveness. Consideration of changing climate conditions in planning and
implementation requires access to information, application of user-friendly tools, and testing and
dissemination of tools for development practitioners in the field.
USAID’s Approach
USAID’s climate change adaptation program seeks to assist Missions and other development partners to
build resilience to climate change through a variety of activities. Adapting to climate change requires
a hierarchy of linked efforts. We are linking information from observation systems to those lacking
such information, improving their understanding of current climate, climate variability and future
climate change. We are working to make earth observation information readily applicable to development
decisions, including creating innovative applications and appropriate tools to then communicate that
information to stakeholders and decision makers. Through interaction with local partners and new tools,
we can better understand how environmental changes may impact sectors critical for development. Once
those impacts are understood, stakeholders need to assess and agree on preferred adaptation options.
Then, on-the-ground actions are implemented to build the resilience of projects designed to promote
economic development.
To gather information on the climate, USAID supports activities that seek to improve global climate
observations through global, regional, and bilateral observing activities. USAID works with the U.S.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to translate data into useful information by bringing
together climate scientists and consumers of climate information at quarterly Climate Outlook Forums
in Africa. The forums enable scientists and stakeholders to discuss their information needs and
capabilities; the result is a quarterly seasonal forecast that is used by decision makers in such
fields as health, food security, and hydropower.
In Central America, USAID and partners support
SERVIR,
a hub to collect and process climate information, test new and innovative tools, and then apply that
information to development problems such as weather prediction, fire monitoring, red tides and disaster
response. USAID has recently begun an enhancement effort to be able to apply the SERVIR model to other
regions to support climate resilient development.
Climate and weather information can be applied to avoid acute crises. USAID supports early warning
systems that integrate seasonal and inter-annual climatic information and local, stakeholder
understanding of conditions to forecast potential crises. The most advanced system is the Famine Early
Warning System (FEWS-NET), currently operating in 27 countries in Africa, Asia, and South America.
FEWS-NET analyzes remotely sensed data and ground-based meteorological, crop, and rangeland
observations to track the progress of the rainy seasons in semi-arid regions in order to identify
early indications of potential famine. It also works to strengthen capacity, inform decision-makers,
and develop policy-relevant information in the regions where it is operating. The
FEWS-NET Web site serves as a gateway of
information about threats and updates on response measures. Still in their trial stages are a malaria,
meningitis, and pest early warning systems.
To communicate warnings and other important climate information, USAID works with other organizations
to develop innovative communications approaches, such as the solar-powered rural radio network (RANET)
in Africa. RANET provides local weather information to remote, solar-powered local radio stations to
help farmers and other people to improve their agriculture, silviculture and related economic
activities.
Finally, the Global Climate Change team’s adaptation program assists Missions and other development
partners to assess and tailor projects to ensure that they function as designed, even as climate
changes. To facilitate the process of adapting development projects, USAID has developed a Climate
Change Adaptation Guidance Manual to provide planners with the tools they need to understand how
climate change may affect their projects. The manual draws on lessons learned in four pilot projects
that assessed impacts and vulnerability to climate variability and change, and developed adaptation
implementation plans for: urban and coastal flooding in Honduras, municipal water in South Africa,
rainfed agriculture in Mali, and fisheries and agriculture in Thailand. These pilot projects and the
guidance manual are helping to improve the resilience and sustainability of USAID’s development efforts
by integrating climate change adaptation into project planning. The GCC team is available to assist
interested Missions adapt their projects to the impacts of climate change.
Conclusion
USAID is engaged in a hierarchy of activities to help developing countries lessen their vulnerability
and adapt to climate-related change. These activities are intended to enable Missions, their partners,
and the international development community to build more resilience into sectoral activities that may
be impacted by climate. The success of these activities can be measured by the degree to which they
facilitate the achievement of sectoral objectives in the face of climatic variability and change.
Back to Top ^
|
