Strengthening the Ability to Adapt to Climate Change and Build Resilience

No one can deny that the global temperature has been the highest since 1981. Authors further noted that the earth is getting warmer since more than 11 billion metric tons of carbon are emitted to the atmosphere from burning fossil fuel and other human activity.

Statistics reveal that climate change is a serious issue that must be addressed soon, or human beings will suffer the consequences of Mother Nature. The risk and impact of climate change cannot be reduced to zero. However, the world can achieve climate resilience by adopting strategies to control its devastating consequences in the long run. 

Resilience and adaptation are attainable through inclusive development, revising plans and policies on land use, and improving the adaptive capacity of households. Governments and private partners concerned with climate change should build a resilient foundation where every person is involved. The Lead Economist, Stephane Hallegate, indicated that poverty and access to basic services predict climate change vulnerability. 

In other words, no adaptation strategy can succeed without ensuring that poorer communities get the adequate resources and finance required to adapt to climate change. For example, in India’s Himalayan region, through the global Adaptation Fund, marginalized communities are financed and equipped with technical skills to manage climate pressure by adopting rainwater harvesting and spring rejuvenation strategies. 

According to the United Nations, the wealthiest nations should commit to the Paris Agreement to provide $100 billion a year towards climate adaptation. From this money, vulnerable communities in developing countries should be considered. The governments should revise their climate plans and land use. According to the World Bank, governments should protect public investment, assets, and services. 

This can be achieved if governments have timely and accurate data on climate change, revise risk models, and increase the cost of building resilience infrastructure. Moreover, governments should make it a policy to maintain a specific area or percentage of land under forestation cover and discourage any activities promoting deforestation. 

For example, during COP26, countries adopted Glasgow Climate Pact, where they agreed to support developing countries build resilience through infrastructure development. This means that the world can attain resilience by revising plans to focus on building resilient infrastructure such as water towers, roads, electricity, and activities towards land reclamation. 

Governments can strengthen the ability to adapt and build resilience by providing households with incentives to adapt. That is, governments should help people with real-time information regarding climate change and imperfect markets and financial assistance to help them make accurate environmental decisions. 

The World Bank asserts that governments can make information on climate risk available and support innovation and access to the best technology. This means that some governments should use the taxpayers’ money to provide services vulnerable groups require to adapt to climate change. 

For example, the United Nations reported that in Kiribati and Ghana, small farmers are the earliest adopters of climate adaptation due to timely information given by the government, hence stepping up early warning systems for disasters. In this case, the information helps vulnerable groups to make choices and adjustments towards addressing climate change.