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Adaptation to Climate Change

Climate change has now become the biggest environmental changes that
brought serious threat to human life. Some of the impacts of these changes can
already be found in some parts of the world. Planting and harvest season is
erratic, and sometimes interspersed with a very long drought. Sea level rise is
increasing and it is feared will be able to drown small islands. This rise also
makes seawater infiltrated the river delta that can further destroy the livelihood
of the people.
Global climate change emerged as a result of the increase in global air
temperature after increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, CFC,
HFC, N2O), especially the increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Global climate change as the implications of global warming has led to instability
in the lower layers of the atmosphere, especially that close to the earth's surface.
Global warming is caused by increased greenhouse gases caused by the dominant
industries. Greenhouse gases are increasing the reflectivity and absorption
effects of the long waves that are heat (infrared) emitted by Earth's surface back
to the surface of the earth.
Concerning the magnitude of the danger to be faced, the world's
population already had to make a big and complete effort to respond to the
consequences of this change and reduce its impact on life. The UNFCCC has
emphasized the importance of strategy made a very important response,
mitigation and adaptation. While mitigation tries to limit climate change by
reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and to improve the 'sink'
opportunities, adaptation aims to reduce the negative impacts through a widerange of system-specific actions (Fussel and Klein, 2002).
Despite acknowledging the urgencies of applying both strategies at the
same time, this essay will focus on discussing the implementation of adaptation
addressing climate change as a form of response adjustments made to cope with

the impacts of climate change (UNISDR, UNDP, 2012) and its influence on the
development process. Huge international attention is paid to the this adaptation
strategy. Article 3 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
encourages governments to adapt to climate change, and the Delhi Ministerial
Declaration on Climate Change and Sustainable Development in 2002, stated that
adaptation is of high priority for all countries and that adaptation requires
urgent attention and action on the part of all countries.
In this essay, the author will start by trying to discuss the concept of
adaptation and the ability of communities to adapt. And in the next section, I will
attempt to explore the relationship of this adaptation process of the formation of
the development process that occurs in the community.

Understanding Adaptation to Climate Change

Environmental issues started to become a trend around 1970s. It is
characterized by the convening of the United Nations (UN) Conference on the
Environment in 1972 in Stockholm, Sweden better known as the Stockholm
Conference. The Conference is the answer to the declining quality of the
environment and the increasing concern in the world at that time.
After becoming a serious debate among scientist, United Nations
negotiated the UNFCCC at the UN Conference on environment and development
(UNCED) commonly known as Earth Summit on 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. The
objective of the treaty is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate
system. Climate change is treated as one of the all-encompassing global
environmental changes likely to have deleterious effects on natural and human
systems, economies and infrastructure. Any potential risk associated with it call

for a broad spectrum of policy responses and strategies at the local, regional,
national and global level.
The UNFCCC emphasize two important response strategies: namely
mitigation and adaptation in trying to reduce the effects of climate change. While
mitigation seeks to limit climate change by reducing the emissions of greenhouse
gases (GHG) and adaptation aims to alleviate the adverse impacts through a widerange of system-specific actions (Fussel and Klein, 2002).
In the study of human adaptability to the environment, the ecosystem is
the overall situation where adaptability takes place. Because the human
population spread in various parts of the world, the context of the adaptability
would be very different. A population in a particular ecosystem adapt to the
environmental conditions in specific ways. Environment, especially climate, plays
an important role in the lives of all human beings. Every human action and
interaction will be determined by their ability to create mechanisms to face the
challenges that come to him.
Therefore, according to Adger et al, vulnerability is socially constructed
phenomenon determined by the availability of resources and the ability and
opportunity to adapt to any changes, so adaptation may take the form of reducing
dependence on vulnerable systems (Adger, et al, 2003). According to Blaikie, et al,
vulnerability may be understood as the characteristics of a person, or group in
terms of their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the
impact of a natural hazard (Blaikie et al. 1994).
From the definition of vulnerability mentioned above, we can know that
every community or country has a various level of vulnerability. Due to uneven
temperature and precipitation, the effects of climate change will not be the same
in every part of the earth A common theme in the climate change impacts and
vulnerability. deployment of resources and unequal wealth also led to differences
in the level of vulnerability.

Many scholars tried to provide definitions about adaptation. Hardesty

argues that adaptation is the process which beneficial relationships are
established and maintained between an organism and its environment (Hardesty,
1977). Meanwhile, cultural ecologists defined adaptation as adjustment strategy
used by humankind during his life to respond to changes in environmental and
social (Alland, 1975, Harris, 1968, Moran 1982).
As a body established to fasilitate the application of the UNFCCC, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines adaptation as
adjustments in ecological, social or economic systems in response to actual or
expected stimuli and their effects or impacts. This term refers to changes in
processes, practices and structures to moderate potential damages or to benefit
from opportunities associated with climate change (IPCC 2001). According to
IPCC, depending on its timing, goal and motive of its implementation, adaptation
can either be reactive or anticipatory, private or public, planned or autonomous.
Adaptations can also be short or long term, localised or widespread (IPCC 2001).
Besides adaptation, there are also the term resilience. In fact, these terms
are often used interchangeably. Some scholars refer resilience as the potential of
a system to remain in a particular configuration and to maintain its feedbacks and
function, and involves the ability of the system to re-organise, following
disturbance-driven change (Anderies et al, 2002). Another definition of resilience
is the amount of change the system can undergo and still retain the same controls
on function and structure, or still be in the same state within the same domain of
attraction (Resilience Alliance, 2002).
Mitigation and adaptation are the strategy to take in order to respond the
climate change. Some may have difficulties in differentiate the two of them. The
first difference between mitigation and adaptation is related to their scope and
duration. We can not directly see the benefits of mitigation as it relates to the
cycle of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but the benefits will be felt globally.

While the benefit of adaptation can be seen earlier but only for its surroundings.
The second difference is the comparison of costs and benefits between the
methodes. With the diversity of choice, mitigation is only intended to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and with its global benefits, its location does not
matter. The benefits between the methodes of mitigation can be determined and
compared. Meanwhile, adaptation have different objectives regarding the
locations, and the benefit is more difficult to quantify, because can only be
counted in the events of damage. The third difference is on the actor and the
types policies. The actors involved in mitigation, mostly from industries, are less
than those in adaptation, but better organised. While adaptation has so many
different sectoral interests with various policy recomendations (Klein, et al,
2003).
Through these definitions, we can understand that adaptation to the
environment indicate interrelationships between people and the environment. In
this context, human ecology approach emphasizes and shows an interplay
between the physical environment and socio-cultural systems. Rambo explained
model of human ecology system that shows linkages between the social system
and the ecological system that includes the transfer of energy, materials, and
information, from one system to another and between the components of each
system. In this interdependent relationship, a change in one component will
cause changes in the other components (Rambo, 1984).

Synergizing Adaptation to Development

It is so bad to be poor people as the global awareness of environmental
condition is increasing. These people oftenly got blamed on environmental
degradation. And when the impacts of climate change struck in, they deteriorate
most severly. Like Elliott said it, whilst the linkages between poverty and the
environment are complex, the numbers of people in poverty worldwide remains

large and it is the poorest groups who suffer the impacts of environmental
degradation most extensively and acutely (Elliott, 2006). And to counter some
opinion that blame poor people for the environmental degradation, Rogers
emphasized that what actually happens is the opposite with the more affluent
class of people having responsible for the most serious environmental damage
(Rogers: 2008).
Because of little resources they have, poor people in developing countries
seems to be more vulnerable to climate change. With difficulties in fulfilling their
own daily needs, they also had trouble getting out of condition exposed the
dangers of climate change effects. Some conditions make them more prone to
climate change, such as relying on agriculture and fisheries which are very
climate-sensitive and living in geographically marginal areas with potential
hazards.
Their poor conditions have been the concerns of development agencies.
According to Kline et al, this concern led to a shift in the discussion of climate
policy, which now has three roles, namely to control the concentration of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, prepare for and mitigate the effects of
climate change and to address issues of equity and development. The third roles
required as a condition for the success of climate policy in developing countries
(Kline et al: 2003).
Focus of attention that had been in the process of mitigation moved to
adaptation side due to the awareness of big threat coming from climate change
that it could fail the achievement of Millennium Development Goals. Growing
attentions are being paid to the process of adaptation to climate change. In spite
of interconnectedness between climate and development, it is also influenced by
the great number of groups involved and concerned in this adaptation strategies.
The shift is considered crucial within the broader context of sustainable
development to enhance the capacity of countries and communities to adapt to

climate change, which is often limited by lack of resources, poor institutions and
inadequate infrastructure, amongst other things (Smit et al., 2003).
To integrate the policies and efforts to tackle climate change with the
development process, the term mainstreaming is used to ensure long-term
funding, while at the same time reduce bad impacts of development activities to
climatic conditions. According to ADB et al, the process of adaptation is better
achieved through mainstreaming and integrating climate responses into
development and poverty eradication processes, rather than by identifying and
treating them separately (ADB et al, 2003).
Many scholars found out that even if they were constructed in different
context, climate change and sustainable development link with each other and
can work together. Climate change can threat the achievement of MDGs with the
destructing effects, such as to agriculture, forest, global health. This link make it
more necessary for the developing countries to prepare their development plans
and ensure their synergy with their strategy in adaptation to climate change
(Huq, 2002).
However to do such a thing is not easy. The difficulty comes from fact that
the climate change and sustainable development have different objective. The
projects of adaptation to climate change are under the international mechanisms
that only have authority only to focus on environmental impacts. While
sustainable development arrangement cover three interdependent dimensions
namely environmental, economic and social.
This led to international action to a dilemma in the middle of the need for
reductionist identification of the climate-related part of global social and
economic trends, versus the desire to see climate change as another important
dimension of global environmental threats to development (Adger et al, 2003).
This is an interesting challenge for development agencies. They need to find a

specific formula that can include both concepts in the program and consistent
with poverty reduction policies.
In conclusion, Adaptation to climate change is needed to reduce the
dangerous impact of climate change. This strategy also brings new challenges in
the form of competing objectives of sustainable development, which hopefully
will bring more benefit to the people. Like most development projects, it will be
successful only if the local community is getting involved in the planning and
implementation process. And by providing the long-term benefits of the program,
it is possible to build support from the local community.

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