Poverty and Climate Change: Reducing the Vulnerability of the Poor through Adaptation
African Development Bank; Asian Development Bank; Department for International Development, United Kingdom; Directorate-General for Development, European Commission; Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany; Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Development Cooperation, The Netherlands; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Environment Programme; The World Bank (2003)
How can the impacts of climate change on the poor be effectively addressed? What will it take to mainstream adaptation responses into poverty reduction efforts?
This publication, jointly produced by ten organisations, aims to contribute to a global dialogue on how to mainstream adaptation to climate change into poverty reduction efforts. It argues that the best way to address climate change impacts on the poor is by integrating adaptation responses into development planning. Adaptation should not be treated as a standalone issue, but in the context of poverty reduction, since climate change is superimposed on existing vulnerabilities.
The publication highlights that
Climate change will further reduce access to drinking water, negatively affect the health of poor people, and is a real threat to food security in many countries.
Developing countries will suffer the most from the negative impacts of climate change due to the economic importance of climate- sensitive sectors such as agriculture and fisheries, and to their capacity to respond to the direct and indirect effects of climate change.
Addressing poverty implies also preparing for climate variability and extremes. Required action includes:
Increasing the resilience of livelihoods and infrastructure as key components of an effective poverty reduction strategy.
An examination of existing disaster reduction and preparedness programs to make maximum use of their ability to assess and reduce current vulnerabilities.
The development of tools and methodologies for planning in the face of risk; training and awareness raising of senior management and staff; and the improvement of institutional processes to address the vulnerability of the poor in development programmes.
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