Transcript `Localised actions for climate change adaptation` by Prabin Man Singh

Prabin Man Singh
Programme Officer (Climate Change)
Oxfam GB Nepal
Methodology
 Research focussed in five countries in South Asia:
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
 Field work in two countries : Bangladesh and Nepal
 64 adaptation projects reviewed and 14 projects were
studied in detailed.
Context: South Asia
 1.5 billion people live on less than USD 1.25 per day
 Agriculture employs more than 60% of the region’s
labour force.
 More than 70% of people lives in villages
Predicted Impacts of Climate Change in
South Asia
• Increased variability in both monsoon and winter
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rainfall,
Increased frequency and/or severity of extreme
weather events (floods, cyclones and drought),
Increase in average temperature, with warmer winter,
Increase salinity in coastal areas as a result of rising
seas,
Reduced discharge of major rivers,
Weakening ecosystems,
Recession of glaciers in the Himalayas
Signature events
• 1985- Glacier Lakes Outburst Floods (GLOFs) in Dig Tsho
• 1993- Mid mountain cloudburst and floods in Central Nepal
 2001/02- Drought in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in India
 2007- Cyclone Sdir hit Bangladesh
• 2008-9
– Winter drought in Nepal
– Forest fire across the Himalayan region
– Diarrhoea epidemic in the mid-western hills in Nepal
• 2009- Cyclone Aila hit Bangladesh and India
• 2010
 Floods in Sindh province, Pakistan
 Cloud outbrust in Ladakh, India
Case study: Local Adaptation Programme of
Action in Nepal
 Operational at the administrative scale of the District
Development Committee (DDC) and the Village
Development committee (VDC),
 Acknowledge the role of plural mechanisms operating
within these scales where the capacity of public sectors
administrative units is limited,
 Operated over the medium terms,
 Mainstream into local, VDC and district-planning
process
Key Lessons
 Participatory assessment and analysis of vulnerability and
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capacity,
Climate change adaptation is not dealt in isolation.
Complex interdependence of sustainable livelihoods,
disaster, water and natural resources,
Focus on poor, vulnerable and marginalised beneficiaries,
Flexible and responsive design and implementation,
Future looking – long term programme,
Build adaptive capacity at multiple levels and within
existing institutions,
Adaptation Cooperation in South Asia
 Adaptation works need to complement with national
plans and policies.
 Adaptation works need to back by rigorous assessment
at the national, sub-regional and regional level with an
emphasis on respective ecosystems.
 Hydro-met information sharing between the counties
in the region.
 River basin management at a sub-regional or regional
level
Adaptation cooperation… contd.
 Existing institutions within SAARC like food bank,
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meteorological station and seed bank need to
operationalise.
Implementation of SAARC Action Plan on Climate
Change.
Technologies (early warning, drought/flood tolerant
seeds, water management) transfer within the region,
Monitoring and evaluation framework for adaptation
practices to be developed.
Adaptation works in the region require predictable
and additional finance.
The End.