The 21st Century climate challenge

national climate change projections showthat near-term agricultural food productionmay increase, albeit with southern states laggingbehind and the Great Plains facing moredroughts as production centres move north. 12Northern Europe also stands to gain from longerand warmer growing seasons, creating scopefor improved competitiveness in a range of fruitand vegetables. 13 Displacement of imports fromdeveloping countries therefore remains a threatto human development in some product areas.Living with climate change—adaptation in developing countriesWhile rich countries are preparing to adaptto climate change, it is developing countriesthat will be faced with the greatest and earliestburden in terms of adverse impacts on livingstandards, livelihoods, economic growth andhuman vulnerability. As in the developedworld, people in the poorest countries will haveto deal with the consequences of a changingclimate. However, there are two important differences.First, developing countries in tropicaland subtropical regions will register some of thestrongest climate change effects. Second, theincremental risks that come with climate changewill be superimposed on societies marked bymass poverty and acute vulnerability. Whilenorthern governments have the financial, technologicaland human capabilities to respond tothe climate change risks facing their citizens,developing countries are far more constrained.Adaptation to climate change is not a futurescenario for the developing world. It is alreadyhappening—just as it is in rich countries. But thecontrasts with adaptation in the developed worldare striking. In London and New York, peopleare being protected against the risks associatedwith rising sea levels through public investmentin infrastructure. In the poorest countries, adaptationis largely a matter of self-help. Millionsof people with barely enough resources to feed,clothe and shelter their families are being forcedto direct money and labour to adaptation. Amongthe examples of that struggle:• In northern Kenya the increased frequencyof droughts means that women are walkinggreater distances to collect water, often rangingfrom 10 to 15 km a day. This confronts womenwith personal security risks, keeps younggirls out of school and imposes an immensephysical burden—a plastic container filledwith 20 litres of water weighs around 20 kg. 14• In West Bengal in India, women livingin villages in the Ganges Delta areconstructing elevated bamboo platformsknown as machan on which to takerefuge above monsoon floodwaters. Inneighbouring Bangladesh, donor agenciesand NGOs are working with people livingon chars—highly flood-prone islands thatare cut off during the monsoon—to raisetheir homes above flood levels by placingthem on stilts or raised embankments. 15• Communities in Viet Nam are strengtheningage-old systems of dykes andembankments to protect themselves againstmore powerful sea surges. In the MekongDelta, agricultural collectives now levy atax for coastal protection and are supportingthe rehabilitation of mangrove areas asa barrier against storm surges. 16• Investments in small-scale water harvestingare increasing. Farmers in Ecuador are buildingtraditional U-shaped detention ponds,or albarradas, to capture water during wetteryears and recharge aquifers during droughtyears. 17 In Maharashtra, India, farmers arecoping with increased exposure to droughtby investing in watershed development andsmall-scale water-harvesting facilities to collectand conserve rainwater. 18• In Nepal, communities in flood-prone areasare building early warning systems—such asraised watchtowers—and providing labourand material to shore up embankments to preventglacial lakes from bursting their banks.• Farmers across the developing world areresponding to emerging climate threats bydrawing on traditional cultivation technology.In Bangladesh, women farmers are building‘floating gardens’—hyacinth rafts on whichto grow vegetables in flood-prone areas. In SriLanka, farmers are experimenting with ricevarieties that can withstand saline intrusionand cope with reduced water. 19It is developing countriesthat will be faced withthe greatest and earliestburden in terms of adverseimpacts on living standards,livelihoods, economic growthand human vulnerability4Adapting to the inevitable: national action and international cooperationHUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2007/2008 171