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Technologies for adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Recently, in addressing climate change, the international community has devoted
increased attention to adaptation - to finding better ways to adjust to the
impacts of climate change. Some methods of adaptation will require social or
political action, but most will also require technology. In many cases people will
adapt to climate change by changing their behaviour - by moving to a different
location or by changing their occupation. But often they will employ different
forms of technology - whether ‘hard’ forms, such as sea-walls, new irrigation
systems, or drought-resistant seeds, or ‘soft’ technologies, such as crop rotation
patterns. A combination of hard and soft technologies can be used, e.g. early
warning systems that combine measuring devices with knowledge and skills,
raising awareness and stimulating appropriate action.
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Lembongan Island, Indonesia
Villagers harvest Euchema seaweed aspart of the “caregeenan trade” which is used in food and laboratories.
Coral reefs are crucial for substrate and protection for the seaweed. Now, sea level rise threatens this local
agriculture and the reefs. © 2006 Gary Braasch/braaschphotography.com |
Tried and Tested Technologies
Technologies for adaptation are not all new. Many have been tried and tested over
generations - coping with floods, for example, by building houses on stilts or by
cultivating floating vegetable plots. Other technologies are much more recent,
involving advanced materials science or satellite remote sensing. One of the main
challenges for all these technologies is to ensure they serve those in greatest need
- the most vulnerable communities in developing countries, particularly those
who live and work in close contact with the natural environment and who stand
to lose most from the impacts of climate change.
Although many adaptation technologies are already available and in place, further
investment is needed to make them more effective - e.g. using different materials
or modified designs. There are also technologies that have been employed in
one location or country but could usefully be replicated elsewhere. Therefore the
deployment, diffusion and transfer of technologies for adaptation are essential for
increasing capacity of developing countries to cope with the adverse effects of
climate change.
Transfer of technologies for mitigation of climate change has typically involved
transferring equipment or know-how from developed to developing countries.
There may thus be a temptation to envisage transfers of technologies for
adaptation following the same pattern. However, technologies for adaptation
differ from those for mitigation in a number of important respects.
The Nature of Adaptation
First, unlike mitigation, which is a relatively new task, adaptation builds on efforts
to reduce vulnerability to current climate variability, for which many technologies
are already being applied even in some of the least developed countries. Second,
adaptation, rather than being concentrated in one sector, such as energy, will
essentially be ubiquitous, dispersed across all socio-economic sectors - including
coastal zones, agriculture, water, health, and infrastructure - each of which
presents its own challenges, and will involve myriad stakeholders in different if
overlapping groups. Third, adaptation technologies, with some exceptions, are also
likely to be less capital intensive and more amenable to small-scale interventions.
They should therefore be more flexible and adaptable to local circumstances
which means that in addition to being socially and legally acceptable they can be
made cost-effective. Nevertheless, as with any form of technology there is always
a risk that adaptation technologies and measures will be more accessible to more
affluent communities.
Clearly technologies will only be one component of the response to the impacts
of climate change. Vulnerability also depends on prevailing social, economic and
environmental conditions and existing management practices. Technologies for
adaptation should, however form a vital part of broader frameworks of integrated
coastal management, of integrated water resource management, and of search
for new generation of crop varieties and vaccines to prevent the transmission of
infectious diseases that can be exacerbated by climate change.
To assess the possibilities of technologies, the secretariat of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change has carried out a review of the
adaptation technologies in five sectors: coastal zones, water resources, agriculture,
public health, and infrastructure. This review has been published as a technical
paper: Application of environmentally sound technologies for adaptation to
climate change (FCCC/TP/2006/2). The secretariat is also preparing a brochure to
serve as a brief introduction to the principles and methods of adaptation - and
the practical steps that can be taken to put them into practice.
Florin Vladu, UNFCCC
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