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Strengthening the link between climate change adaptation and national development plans: lessons from the case of population in National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs)

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Abstract

As climate change adaptation planning moves beyond short term National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) to longer-term approaches, it is instructive to review the NAPA process and examine how well it was linked to national development planning. This paper reviews 41 NAPAs submitted by Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to assess the NAPA process in terms of NAPAs integration with countries’ national development strategies. The review outlines the actors involved in developing NAPAs and identifies the range of interventions included in countries’ priority adaptation actions. The paper uses the example of population as an issue related to both climate change and national development to assess how it is addressed as part of LDCs’ adaptation and national development agendas. The analysis shows that although countries recognize population pressure as an issue related to the ability to cope with climate change and as a factor hindering progress in meeting development goals, it is not well incorporated into either adaptation planning or in national development strategies. Among the 41 NAPAs, 37 link high and rapid population growth to climate change. Moreover, six NAPAs clearly state that slowing population growth or investments in reproductive health/family planning (RH/FP) should be considered among the country’s priority adaptation actions. Furthermore, two NAPAs actually propose a project with components of RH/FP among their priority adaptation interventions, although none of them has yet been funded. The paper points to structural issues that hamper better alignment between climate change adaptation and national development planning and offers recommendations for longer-term adaptation strategies that better meet the development needs of countries.

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Notes

  1. Longer-term national adaptation plans are part of the UNFCCC discussions on enhanced action on adaptation taking place under the “Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action” (AWGLCA) and were featured at its 6th Session held in Bonn, 1–12 June 2009. Longer term adaptation will also be included in the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP15) of the UNFCCC in Copenhagen.

  2. This classification was guided by analysis on population and NAPAs by Bryant et al. (Bryant et al., 2009) characterizing population as affecting climate change primarily in three ways: (1) by acting in tandem with climate change to deplete key natural resources, for example through soil erosion and deforestation, (2) by causing a significant escalation in demand for resources, such as fresh water and food, that are declining in availability due to climate change, and (3) a heightening of human vulnerability to the effects of climate change, including by increased pressure on human health and by forcing more people to migrate and settle in areas at risk of extreme weather events.

Abbreviations

GEF:

Global Environment Facility

LDC:

Least Developed Country

LDCF:

Least Developed Country Fund

LEG:

Least Developed Country Expert Group

NAPA:

National Adaptation Programme of Action

PRS:

Poverty Reduction (Strategy) Paper

UNDP:

United Nations Development Programme

UNFCCC:

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

WGF:

Water Governance Facility

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population Action International, Washington, DC, USA

    Karen Hardee & Clive Mutunga

  2. 1300 19th Street, NW, Second Floor, Washington, DC, 20036, USA

    Clive Mutunga

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  1. Karen Hardee
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  2. Clive Mutunga
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Correspondence to Clive Mutunga.

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Hardee, K., Mutunga, C. Strengthening the link between climate change adaptation and national development plans: lessons from the case of population in National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs). Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 15, 113–126 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-009-9208-3

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