The 21st Century climate challenge

CHAPTER4Adapting to the inevitable: nationalaction and international cooperationAll countries will have toadapt to climate changeThe village of Maasbommel on the banks of the River Maas in Zeeland, southernNetherlands, is preparing for climate change. Like most of the Netherlands, this is alow-lying area at risk from rising sea levels and rivers swollen by rain. The landscapeis dominated by water—and by the networks of dykes that regulate its flow. Locatedon the Maasbommel waterfront are 37 homes with a distinctive feature: they canfloat on water. Fixed to large steel stilts that are sunk into the river bed, the hollowfoundations of the homes act like the hull of a ship, buoying the structure abovewater in the event of a flood. The floating homes of Maasbommel offer a case studyin how one part of the developed world is adapting to the increased risks of floodingthat will come with climate change.People in the developing world are alsoadapting. In Hoa Thanh Hamlet in VietNam’s Mekong Delta, people understandwhat it means to live with the risk of flooding.The greatest risks occur during the typhoonseason, when storms that develop in the SouthChina Sea produce sudden sea surges at a timewhen the Mekong is in flood. Vast networksof earth dykes maintained through the labourof farmers are an attempt to keep the floodwaters at bay. Here too, people are dealingwith climate change risks. Dykes are beingstrengthened, mangroves are being plantedto protect villages from storm surges, andhomes are being constructed on bamboo stilts.Meanwhile, part of an innovative ‘living withfloods’ programme supported by donor agenciesis providing vulnerable communities withswimming lessons and issuing life-jackets.The contrasting experiences of Maasbommeland Hoa Thanh Hamlet illustrate how climatechange adaptation is reinforcing wider globalinequalities. In the Netherlands, publicinvestment in an elaborate flood defenceinfrastructure provides a higher level ofprotection against risk. At a household level,technological capacity and financial resourcesoffer people the choice of dealing with thethreat of flooding by purchasing homes thatenable them to float ‘on’ the water. In Viet Nam,a country that faces some of the world’s mostextreme threats from climate change, a fragileflood defence infrastructure provides limitedprotection. And in villages across the MekongDelta, adaptation to climate change is a matterof learning to float ‘in’ the water.All countries will have to adapt to climatechange. In rich countries governments areputting in place public investments and widerstrategies to protect their citizens. In developingcountries adaptation takes a different form.Some of the world’s most vulnerable peopleliving with the risks of drought, floods andexposure to tropical storms are being left to copeusing only their own very limited resources.Inequality in capacity to adapt to climatechange is emerging as a potential driver of widerdisparities in wealth, security and opportunitiesfor human development. As Desmond Tutu, theformer Archbishop of Cape Town, warns in4Adapting to the inevitable: national action and international cooperationHUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2007/2008 165