Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change (2010) / Chapter Skim
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6 Rationale and Mechanisms for Global Engagement in Climate Change Adaptation
6 Rationale and Mechanisms for Global Engagement in Climate Change Adaptation
Pages 185-202
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From page 185... ...
draw attention to the need for adaptation as well as limiting GHG emissions, the United States, as the world's historic leading emitter of GHGs, will have strategic choices to make about how to engage and respond. As discussed in detail in the companion report ACC: Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change (NRC, 2010c)
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From page 186... ...
. CLIMATE CHANgE IMPACTS IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONTExT Climate change is already affecting resource availability globally, and future impacts could lead to dramatic changes in economic and environmental conditions, creating both humanitarian and national security concerns (IPCC, 2007a; Khagram and Ali, 2006; World Bank, 2010)
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From page 187... ...
Conflict could arise among countries where increased variability in the water supply from climate change outpaces the ability of relevant institutions to adjust (Wolf et al., 2003)
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From page 188... ...
. Consequently, during the COP in Copenhagen, the most important objective of international climate policy negotiations for many of these developing nations was obtaining a commitment from the developed nations on both GHG emissions reductions and substantial adaptation funding (SEI, 2009)
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From page 189... ...
, increased monitoring of and support for food security (Schmidhuber and Tubiello, 2007; World Bank, 2010) , and developing and transferring renewable energy technologies that reduce GHG emissions (Brewer, 2008; de Coninck et al., 2008)
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From page 190... ...
As an example, military installations along the coast are likely to be affected by sea level rise and may need enhanced measures to cope with more intense coastal storms. Military forces may also be called upon more frequently to respond to extreme events such as hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves, floods, winter storms, and drought.
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From page 191... ...
To examine the need for international coordination on adaptation, transboundary river basins serve as an example of the kinds of cooperation and dialogue that will be required to coordinate climate change adaptation. International river basins are a good proxy because they occur all over the world, the actors they link vary in number and in economic development, and there is an existing body of literature devoted to the sharing of resources over time in these locations.
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From page 192... ...
The United States and Mexico have long maintained formal international institutions for the management of the Colorado River.
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From page 193... ...
. Learning from Others Many foreign governments have moved beyond a focus on limiting GHG emissions and are strongly engaged in climate change adaptation activities, participating in programs that range from funding and facilitating a coordinated adaptation research program in Australia (see Chapter 5)
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From page 194... ...
Programs U.S. decisions about climate change adaptations at both national and international scales will take place in the context of existing treaties, trade relationships, resource extraction and processing networks, international development assistance, and global markets.
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From page 195... ...
or assist with disaster response. USAID's climate change adaptation program also assesses development projects to ensure they function under future climate change.
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From page 196... ...
. In addition to the focus on implementation of adaptations to sea level rise and tropical cyclones, Bangladesh is exploring new modes of engagement to support adaptation policies and funding.
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From page 197... ...
) and tropical cyclones.
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From page 198... ...
Documenting that investments have actually gone to "adaptation" as opposed to "development" is difficult in some cases; it is particularly difficult to define an increment that qualifies for climate change adaptation funding beyond benefits to development per se. Although this distinction has been considered necessary in the context of assessing national responsibility for climate change and the call from developing nations for reparations as part of the climate change negotiations, adaptation is deeply linked with development co-benefits.
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From page 199... ...
There are a number of considerations that need to be evaluated, including making determinations about what the primary goals of future engagement should be. It will be important to answer a number of questions about the priorities of international adaptation investments relative to investments within the United States and about the strategic implications of investing in particular adaptation projects and funds (see suggested questions for consideration in the "Conclusions" section of this chapter)
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From page 200... ...
The following critical questions need to be addressed in the context of developing a national adaptation program that recognizes the global context, reflects the lessons learned in other countries, and focuses on capacity building: • To what degree should the United States address adaptation as a global issue rather than as an issue to be addressed by each country individually? • How can adaptation programs appropriately consider the wide range of inter national issues, including national security, economic security, and sustainabil ity of human and environmental systems?
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From page 201... ...
engagements in international adaptation actions. For example, upstream nations may wish to build more reservoirs to capture declining water supplies in drier regions.
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