Synergies and trade-offs in climate change responses
Beyond the climate change community and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), how much awareness of climate change is there amongst development organisations? What steps have they taken in response to climate change? The development community and sectoral planners in several governments are increasingly asking how the future impacts of climate change can be included within development activities.
Consideration of climatic risks should be central to development investments and projects
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Recent reports commissioned by the World Bank and German and Norwegian aid organisations have looked at links between development assistance measures and climate change adaptation. Furthermore, ten international development agencies recently highlighted the importance of adaptation to climate change in achieving poverty alleviation.
In 2002, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) began the Development and Climate Change Project. The main objective was to explore possible synergies and trade-offs in "mainstreaming" responses to climate change. Mainstreaming in this context means integrating responses to climate change within normal development activities and plans. Case studies were conducted in Bangladesh, Egypt, Fiji, Nepal, Tanzania, and Uruguay. Each case study followed a framework designed to identify the links between adaptation to climate change and development activities. These included:
- a country-level overview of principal climate change impacts and vulnerabilities
- analyses of national plans and development assistance measures that affect vulnerable sectors and regions
- analyses at a regional/sectoral level of how climate change adaptation responses can be mainstreamed in particular development policies and projects.
Several findings emerged from this work. An analysis of official development assistance and loans to the six countries indicates that a significant amount of funding goes to sectors potentially affected by climatic risks. Between 1998 and 2000, the estimates range from several hundred million US dollars for Nepal and Tanzania to between one and two billion dollars for Egypt and Bangladesh. It is evident, therefore, that consideration of climatic risks (including climate change) should be central to development investments and projects.
Analysis of various national development plans and strategy papers for the six countries indicates that these documents generally give little consideration to the impacts of climate change. Furthermore, they often pay limited attention to current weather and climatic risks. In all cases, climate experts, sectoral planners and other stakeholders need to discuss different approaches to including adaptation to climate change in future development plans.
The discussion on mainstreaming responses to climate change is slowly changing. More emphasis is being given to whether and how adaptation to climate change should be included in development efforts. The significance of climate change, relative to other factors that affect development, will need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, climate change impacts might only warrant attention over the medium to long term, and not be immediate priorities for development. However, there is likely to be a growing number of countries where climate change is of immediate concern.
Shardul Agrawala
OECD Environment Directorate
2 Rue André Pascal
Paris 75016
France
shardul.agrawala@oecd.org
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