Institute of Development Studies
Annual Report 2011
Climate Change
Over the last year IDS work on climate change has continued to evolve in ways which reflect our close relationships with policymakers.
We have continued to have a major focus on building effective adaptation to climate change and enhanced disaster preparedness, encouraging approaches that give a voice to those people, including children, who are normally excluded from decision making. Another key focus has been low carbon development, especially in China, where research on barriers and opportunities is leading us into a new set of relationships with the private sector, for example in the renewable energy sector. Across all our work, a distinctive aspect of IDS’ approach to climate policy is increasing attention to the roles of ideas and politics in the processes by which policy is actually made and carried out.
Research Centres
Highlight
Being present where it counts:
The role of children in a changing climate brought to the attention of policymakers
Last year IDS continued to coordinate a programme of research as part of the Children in a Changing Climate Coalition. This has included a study of disaster impacts (particularly climate hazards) on child wellbeing since 2000, and also an analysis of the enabling environment for scaling up child-centred action on disasters and climate. We brought these studies together to explain the role of children, both as beneficiaries of climate and disaster programmes, and also as active citizens who can and should participate in identifying both climate and disaster risks and solutions. Last year, as a direct result of our research, the multiple dimensions of childhood vulnerability and child agency were reflected in early drafts of two significant reports – the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction’s (UNISDR) Global Assessment of Risk 2011 and the forthcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC ) Special Report on Extreme Events.
Viewpoint
Sajjad Mohammad Sajid
SCR Regional Focal Point, South Asia, Christian Aid and Christian Aid's Regional Emergency Manager
We’ve been working with IDS on the Strengthening Climate Resilience programme and over the past year have developed what we’ve called the Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management approach. One of the key outcomes of the approach and the programme is that it brings together our experience as practitioners working with vulnerable and socially excluded communities with researchers who we wouldn’t otherwise have had the chance to exchange and learn from. By each using our relative expertise we’ve been able to host a series of national, regional and global consultations which have brought together different communities of practice. This has broken down the siloed way we currently work (for example, DRR, climate change, development) but also the siloed communities in which we’re so used to working – as practitioners, researchers and policymakers. By harnessing the rich experience and expertise of such varied groups, our Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management approach incorporates more voices and opinions than we would have been able to reflect upon alone.
Highlight
Linking different perspectives:
Landmark African gathering on climate change adaptation
The AfricaAdapt Network, an IDS led knowledge-sharing initiative on climate change adaptation, successfully ended its first phase on a high – convening a unique gathering of community leaders, government ministers, journalists, academic researchers, international donors and NGOs, which met in Ethiopia in March 2011. Over 160 participants from across Africa came together at the AfricaAdapt Symposium to use their local knowledge to shape the future of African development in the face of a changing, unpredictable climate. Discussions focused on a common set of challenges, aiming to stimulate new thinking, build new partnerships and set a common agenda for change. The symposium marked the end of a year in which IDS provided a programme of mentoring and support to ENDA-Senegal, who will take on the leadership of AfricaAdapt, marking the beginning of a new phase in African-led thinking and action on climate change.
Highlight
Linking different perspectives:
Helping researchers access policy spaces
One of the key challenges for adaptation to climate change is to ensure that evidence from field level research informs government policy responses. Through the Research to Policy for Adaptation (RPA) project, IDS has worked with partners in Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania to analyse policy processes related to adaptation projects under the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) programme. The work involved bringing together policy analysis and climate change adaptation two perspectives that, until now, have rarely been brought together. On the basis of the analysis, the teams developed project-specific engagement strategies, giving advice on how researchers may better access policy spaces.
Download the Climate Change section of our Annual Report.