Built Environment, flooding regime change, and its effect on adaptation to climate change in the cities of developing countries: Learning a lesson from Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia

Abstract Background Climate change and its impact have taken centre stage in contemporary political economic discourse. Climate change is posing complex problems that far outweighs the solutions suggested by the conventional analytical tools used for guiding responses to major environmental challenges. This is particularly the case in developing countries like Nigeria. Unsurprisingly the concept of community resilience towards climate change has received a great deal of attention from researchers and policy makers. However, community resilience is a contested concept, which leads to disagreement about the methods of achieving it. The nature of community resilience makes the measurement of the efficiency of the policies designed to increase community resilience problematic, particularly in developing countries where limited funds must be prioritised. Methods The research presented uses a Grounded Delphi Method (GDM) to identify how experts in Nigeria define community resilience and reach a consensus on its measurement in Nigeria’s context and other developing nations. The data collection involved three rounds of Delphi with a panel of 21 experts, the first round employed semi-structured interviews, following the exploratory Delphi approach, and subsequent rounds employed online surveys. Findings: The findings indicate that there is a process of stages that communities need to go through to become resilient to climate change. These begin with coping with climate change, followed by adaptation to climate change with the final stage being transformation in the face of climate change. Twenty indicators are identified categorised under eight elements that are suitable for measuring community resilience at the different stages of this process. It is interesting to note that the experts in Nigeria who participated in the study excluded notions of transformation in their conceptualisation of community resilience illustrating a potential gap in their perceptions of the requirements for how communities can become fully resilient. Conclusion This research provides a method of prioritising specific, measurable indicators to inform policies designed to reduce the impacts of climate change by supporting community resilience in the context of developing countries with limited funding.

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Carola Betzold and Florian Weiler. 2018. Development Aid and Adaptation to Climate Change in Developing Countries (Cham, CH: Palgrave Macmillan)

The Review of International Organizations ◽

10.1007/s11558-018-9310-y ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 621-625

Author(s):

Katharina Michaelowa

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Development Aid ◽

Adaptation To Climate Change

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Climate Change and Adaptation through the Lens of Capability Approach

Natural Resources Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-0803-8.ch064 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 1351-1365

Author(s):

Bhupen Mili ◽

Anamika Barua ◽

Suparana Katyaini

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Group Discussion ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Successful Implementation ◽

Adaptation To Climate Change ◽

Community Members ◽

Study Region ◽

The People ◽

Agent Of Change

Climate Change impacts would disproportionately have larger impacts on the developing countries. Both government and development agencies have initiated various adaptation strategies in the developing countries to enhance the adaptation of the local communities. Various policies and programmes have been designed keeping in mind the impact of climate change. This study was conducted in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India, to see the benefits of such policies and programmes. Focus group discussion with community members were held in the study area. Based on the fieldwork it was seen that most of the intervention made in the study area focused on income, resources, and assets. It has failed to benefits the people due to variation in the capability among various section of the society. Various projects related to health, education, housing, and livelihood, have been implemented in the study region. However, due to lack of conversion factors in the form of gender inequality, discriminatory practices, transparency among others have come as a hindrance in the successful implementation of the projects. Hence, such project-based approach to enhance community's adaptation to climate risk, in the end fails to show benefits as it fails to expand community's capabilities and real freedom, due to the project's pre-defined aims. It is important to understand community's as agent of change rather than merely beneficiaries of adaptation projects. This study therefore recommends that to enhance community's adaptation to climate change, the interventions should be such that it enlarges the range of people's choices so that when climate disaster strikes them they will have a set of opportunities.

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