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ADB's Support for Climate Change AdaptationAs greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide remain in the atmosphere for many decades, the realities of a worsening climate change point to the need for countries to prepare for the inevitable. Although adaptation will not remove the impacts, it will be crucial in reducing vulnerability to climate change and is the only way to cope with the impacts that are expected in the next few decades. ADB is helping its DMCs adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change by providing support at three levels, through: regional and sub-regional cooperation and information exchange; national policy and strategy development; and project-level mainstreaming. Regional and Subregional Cooperation. Many of the concerns raised by climate change can best be understood and addressed at the regional or sub-regional levels. ADB's Climate Change Adaptation Program for the Pacific worked with the Pacific SIDS to examine the special risks they face and identified adaptation approaches and measures for example, "climate proofing" coastal infrastructure investments. The ADB-led Central Asian Countries Initiative for Land Management brings together the five countries of that region to address desertification, some of which are exacerbated by climate change. In the Greater Mekong Subregion, ADB is sponsoring an analysis of climate change on natural resources productivity and working to integrate climate change risk considerations into our disaster preparedness support in the region. National Adaptation Support. ADB is increasingly integrating adaptation considerations into its strategic planning processes at the country level. Climate change risks are starting to be considered as part of the process whereby ADB and its DMCs develop Country Partnership Strategies for ADB's programs. Sector development plans are expected to be increasingly reconfigured for resiliency to climate change. More directly, we are starting to organize greater support towards national climate change adaptation planning and programming. Mainstreaming Adaptation into Project Design. Project design needs to include due consideration of risks associated with climate change, and ADB is expanding its efforts to ensure that these risks are taken account of in project planning and implementation. We are starting to test the methods and approaches to better adapt to climate change during project implementation. Recommendations from a Poverty Environment Program supported pilot activity in Viet Nam related to traditional coastal community approaches to reduce disaster vulnerability are being applied to a $135 million coastal development project. ADB expects to increase its assistance to its DMCs with financial resource mobilization to support adaptation efforts. As an executing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), ADB is positioned to tap resources from the three GEF-administered climate change adaptation funds as well as its own resources and other sources of financing.* The ADB web site provides links to external sites that are not under its control. ADB is not responsible for the content of these sites. | ||||||||||||
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