Adapting to Climate Change: Assessing the World Bank Group ...

CHAPTER 2ADAPTATION AT THE BANK GROUP2.50 The Bank’s involvement with adaptation in Kiribati dates to the late 1990s. Alandmark Regional Economic Report for the Pacific Islands was one of the first Bankactivities to highlight climate adaptation needs, and pointed to Kiribati’s extremevulnerability. In 2003, the Bank and Kiribati embarked on the first phase of the KiribatiAdaptation Project (KAP-I), devoted to consultations and planning. From the start, theprogram decided to focus on near-term ACV with immediate benefits rather thananticipatory ACC. KAP-II was intended to build capacity and public awareness;support diagnosis of climate-related problems; mainstream adaptation into governmentpolicies, programs, and plans; and undertake pilot measures in coastal protection andfreshwater management. The newly initiated KAP-III is intended to expandimplementation in those two sectors.2.51 KAP II’s original design was unrealistically complex, especially given low levelsof technical and managerial capacity, and proved not to have full buy-in by thegovernment. The project consisted of many activities scattered across many islands.Initially, Bank supervision was lax, relying too heavily on an unprepared andunderstaffed project management unit. The Kiribati government lagged in setting up aunit to oversee the project and did not make an agreed contribution to the overall costof the mostly grant-financed project. In part this stance reflected a deeply-held Kiribatiview that the necessity of adaptation was externally imposed and its costs should beexternally borne. There was also tension between spending on visiting internationalconsultants versus building local capacity for the long term, and between spending onplanning versus implementation. Project expectations that communities would readilyprioritize investments were foreign to a culture built on making decisions by consensus.Disbursements stalled, prompting a restructuring and simplification of the project.Impacts on Information and Analysis2.52 KAP II made some important investments in information and analysis. Itsponsored a detailed survey of groundwater quantity and sustainable yield, which hascatalyzed publication of an annual report on the status of the water reserves. A CoastalHazard and Risk Diagnosis and Planning (CHRDP) calculator was developed toestimate damage at specific locations from storm surge and waves under future climatechange scenarios, as an aid to coastal zone management and asset protection ofinfrastructure. An unexpectedly important contribution was the development of aglossary of climate change adaptation terms in the local language. This has proven to beindispensable in facilitating discussions with communities.Impacts on Policy and Mainstreaming2.53 KAP II succeeded in developing national water resources and sanitation policiesand implementation plans and contributed to the Tarawa Water Master Plan. These are28