The 21st Century climate challenge

national and subnational programmes is likelyto prove more effective than funding dozensof small-scale projects. The PRSP provides alink from poverty reduction goals to nationalbudgets and is thus the best tool for rollingout public spending programmes geared to theMDGs and wider macroeconomic goals.In many countries, increased programmelevelsupport could deliver an early harvest ofbenefits from adaptation that bolster widerpoverty reduction efforts. Bangladesh providesan example. Many donors in the countryare engaged in a wide range of projects andprogrammes aimed at reducing climate risks.However, far more could be done to expand programmesupport in key areas. Two examples:• Social safety net programmes (SSNPs).Through the PRSP, poor people themselveshave identified strengthened safetynet programmes as a vital requirementfor reducing vulnerability. Currently,Bangladesh has a large portfolio of suchprogrammes, with spending estimated ataround 0.8 percent of GDP. These includean old-age allowance scheme, allowancesfor distressed groups, a Rural MaintenanceProgramme and a Rural InfrastructureDevelopment Programme—respectivelyproviding cash for work and food forwork—and conditional cash transfers thatprovide food for education and stipends forgirls. 81 Apart from providing immediaterelief, these programmes have offered aladder for people to climb out of poverty.However, there are a number of problems.First, coverage is inadequate: there arearound 24 million people in Bangladeshin the category of ‘extremely poor’, whereassafety nets only currently reach about 10million. Second, there is no integratednational SSNP based on comprehensive andupdated risk and vulnerability mapping.Each separate SSNP is funded by a range ofdonors and there are problems with unclearand overlapping mandates. Strengthenedcapacity and scaled up national programmesin these areas could provide millions ofpeople facing immediate climate changerisks with support for adaptation. 82 •examplesintegratingnationala frameworkcangovernments.adisastermultilateralHyogodisasterbyhavedisasterprocesses.turningtoGFDRRoflow-incomereductionbroughtandprogrammeestimatedexperiencerequirements•Comprehensive disaster management.Working with donors through a rangeof innovative programmes, Bangladeshhas developed an increasingly effectivedisaster management system. Linkedexplicitly to the MDGs, it brings togethera range of previously fragmented activities,including the development of early warningsystems, community-based flood defenceand post-flood recovery. 83 However, currentfunding—US$14.5 million over fouryears—is inconsistent with the ambitiousgoal of reducing the vulnerability of thepoor to ‘manageable and acceptable levels’.While every country is different, theseillustrate the wider potential forstrategies for adaptation intoplanning. Dialogue on PRSPs providesthrough which developed countriessupport the efforts of developing countryIt could also provide them withmechanism through which to strengthenrisk management strategies.Initial progress has already been made onassistance mechanisms. Under theFramework for Action, an internationalrisk reduction framework signed168 countries in 2005, clear guidelinesbeen set out for the incorporation ofrisk reduction into national planningElements of the architecture forguidelines into outcomes have startedemerge. 84 Similarly, the World Bank’ssupports the Hyogo Framework. Oneits core objectives is to build the capacity ofcountries to integrate disaster riskanalysis and action (including thatabout by climate change) into PRSPswider strategic planning processes. 85 Totalfinancing requirements to 2016 areat US$2 billion. 86Key lessons emerge from the adaptationof developing countries related tofor developing such strategies:Reforming dedicated multilateral funds. Themajor multilateral funds should be unifiedinto a single fund with simplified uptakeprocedures and a shift in emphasis towardsprogramme-based adaptation.Increased programme-levelsupport could deliver anearly harvest of benefits fromadaptation that bolster widerpoverty reduction efforts4Adapting to the inevitable: national action and international cooperationHUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2007/2008 197