Climate Change Adaptation and International Development： Making Development Cooperation More Effective

In this book, the culmination of a JICA-RI research project, the authors examine climate change adaptation from the perspective of development cooperation. It is intended to provide useful lessons for those engaged in research, policy and practice in this vital area.
Two experts on environment and climate change, Ryo Fujikura (JICA-RI Visiting Fellow) and Masato Kawanishi (JICA Senior Advisor), have compiled a wide range of case studies from across Africa and Asia that span various sectors including water, agriculture and disaster management. Contributed by researchers from Asia, Europe, Africa and North America, these in-depth case studies of climate change projects examine its socio-economic and environmental impacts, and assess the vulnerability of and adaptation progress in both rural and urban areas around the world.
As members of an ODA executing agency, Fujikura and Kawanishi succinctly illustrate the current situation – the debates, the accomplishments and the challenges – among international donors in addressing climate change. The authors also propose alternative approaches for regions like Africa where climate data is less readily available, and explore frontiers in adaptation responses such as applying high-resolution climate change projections in planning.
Because climate change most severely affects the world’s poor, it is essential that international development initiatives focus on building the capacity of developing countries to adapt to the effects of climate change. It was for this reason that the authors have drawn together the full implications from case studies and offer recommendations for future research and international development cooperation.