ADAPTATION CAPACITY Adaptation capacity and/or capacity building? We need to be able to say where our adaptation capacity is strong and where it is weak, in order to know where more capacity is most required.

DEFINITIONS. For human societies, adaptive capacity can be defined as the ability to plan, facilitate, and implement measures to adapt to climate change. Factors that determine adaptive capacity may include level of economic wealth and well-being, availability of appropriate technology, extent of information and skills, provision of sufficient infrastructure, effectiveness of institutions, political stability, cultural cohesiveness and social equity. Yasmin Biro in draft report Vulnerability and Adaptation: The GEF Approach.

Adaptive capacity is the potential or capacity of a system to adjust, via changes in its characteristics or behaviour, so as to cope better with existing climate variability, or with changes in variability and mean climate conditions Neil Adger, Shaheen Rafi Khan, and Nick Brooks in Adaptive Capacity Technical Paper No. 7 of the UNDP Adaptation Policy Framework.

Two Kinds of Adaptation Capacity. 1. Generic capacity. Applies to capacity for a wide range of responses to many different risks. 2. Specific capacity. Applies to capacity for adaptation solely or primarily to climate change and variability.

Capacity for What? 1. Scientific capacity for ; -understanding; -earth sciences. -social and management sciences. 2. Management capacity. -adaptation measures. -adaptation policy.

Generic capacity. - wealth. - population health, education, skills. - access to technology. - governance, stability, effectiveness. - equity, social cohesion. - the X factor.

Specific capacity. -budget allocation for climate adaptation, (by sectors?) -meteorologists, climate scientists, and forecasters. -resource, environmental, and climate economists and policy analysts. -adaptation technology (by sectors?). Health advice, climate education and awareness. Many others ….

Choice of Adaptation Measures. 1. Theoretical range of choice. -all the ways of adapting that have been used, plus any new ones that can be created. 2. Practical range of choice. -those choices which are not blocked by constraints.

Theoretical range. 1. Malaria. - vector control. - spraying insecticides. - water, habitat management, drainage. - bednets, subsidies. - education, awareness. - malaria pills. -vaccination. -others……

2. Floods (urban). -dams, dykes, levees. - building codes. - land use planning, zoning. - relocation of buildings, people. - education, awareness, - flood proofing, - emergency responses. - forecasting and warnings. - others?

Constraints on Theoretical Choice. What blocks specific choices? - cost? - technical capacity? - spatial linkages? - social, cultural, legal, acceptability? - understanding, perception? - political considerations. - vested interests?

Building Adaptive Capacity. TO REMOVE OR DIMINISH CONSTRAINTS IS TO EXPAND CAPACITY.