Introduction - Climate Change Adaptation and Development: Transforming Paradigms and Practices - page 9

change (Mapfumo, Mtambanengwe and Chikowo 2010; Nkem, Munang
and Jallow 2011; Bahinipati and Sahu 2012; IEG 2012). An analysis of the
adaptation projects funded by the GEF identified ten categories of projects:
capacity building, management and planning, practice and behaviour, policy,
information, physical infrastructure, warning and observing systems, green
infrastructure, financing, and technology (Biagini et al. 2014).
In many cases adaptation projects are seen as development projects aimed
at reducing specific impacts of climate change (Lamhauge, Lanzi and Agrawala
2012). Importantly, they seldom appear to address the social structures that
cause vulnerability in the first place. And although the development of 'green'
infrastructure may be included in the programme, such efforts tend to focus
on actions like reforestation or afforestation, with somewhat less emphasis on
projects for developing energy infrastructure and low-carbon solutions. This
approach to adaptation has been criticized for representing little new in response
to climate change, and for repeating earlier strategies, policies and practices -
now justified by climate change (Ireland 2012; Bassett and Fogelman 2013).
In summary, climate change is typically seen as a threat to development that
has to be addressed by changing crops, management practices, institutions,
or behaviours in order to reduce risk and vulnerability. And so, adaptation
to climate change gets subsumed within current development policies
and practices. Piecemeal adaptation efforts that reduce impacts often fail
to deal with the underlying causes of vulnerability. With the growing
recognition of the importance of climate change in the development context,
effective development assistance activities need to fit with larger social and
environmental goals. For this, how adaptation is understood and approached
within the development sector will be crucial.
adaptation as a social process
Moving beyond development as usual means viewing adaptation through a
much broader lens, recognizing that it is not merely about minimizing discrete
'climate impacts', but about addressing the systemic risks that are embedded
in current development pathways. What does this mean for how adaptation is
approached in policy and practice? An underlying theme that runs throughout
the chapters in this topic is an emphasis on adaptation as more than one single
intervention that can be implemented based on scenarios of future climate
change impacts. Instead, adaptation is a social process that requires attention
to the systems and structures that influence vulnerability and the practical,
on-the-ground actions to address the observed or future impacts of climate
change. It also calls for greater attention to the values, beliefs, worldviews and
assumptions that influence processes of change. In short, adaptation involves
addressing the social and human dimensions of climate change - including how
social and economic structures as well as gender and power relations influence
vulnerability and the capacity to adapt.