Climate Resilience Lab Resources

Community-based adaptation describes an approach to increasing the resilience of some of the world’s poorest communities to the impacts of climate change. It should be a community-led process, based on local priorities, needs, knowledge and capacities, which can then empower people to cope with and plan for the impacts of climate change. This publication, from the International Institute for Environment and Development, contains abstracts (mainly in English, some in French) from papers presented at the fourth International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change which was held on 21-27 February 2010 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

This first chapter from World Resources Report examines how climate change will frame the future for communities across the globe. What steps should be taken to protect vital infrastructure such as roads, dams, and factories, or to ensure the safety of housing stocks—both existing and yet to be built? What policies should be adopted or investments made to help agriculture adapt to new rainfall and temperature regimes and secure local food supplies? How should vulnerable ecosystems like forests or coral reefs be managed to maintain the vital services they render and the livelihoods they support?

This report from Plan International calls for better integration of adolescent girls' needs in climate change adaptation and disaster risk management policies and programs, based on interviews with girls involved in Plan's programs in Ethiopia and Bangladesh. The report describes how increased climate stresses are exposing a growing number of adolescent girls to very specific risks: more girls and women are dying during disasters; an increasing number are enduring early and forced marriages; more girls are being exposed to sexual violence and the curtailment of their education.

Innovation and women's empowerment are rarely discussed in the same context but each has essential value for human progress. This research, from the International Center on Research for Women, is the first scholarly assessment of its kind to understand how innovations have improved women's well-being, empowered women and advanced gender equality. This research examines eight catalytic innovations in three domains that intersect areas with the greatest need and most creative entry points for realizing women's empowerment: (1) technology use (2) social norm change and (3) economic resilience.

This report from the Coalition for Adolescent Girls and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs uncovers the potential of adolescent girls living in rural economies and the role they can play in transforming their economic and social realities. Building the capacity of adolescent girls and engaging them in rural livelihoods, increases agricultural productivity and the development of agri-food systems, improves conservation of natural resources, and lifts communities out of poverty

In this report, the International Fund for Agricultural Development argues that, to be successful, poverty-reduction policies must focus on rural areas. A sustainable reduction in poverty calls for the creation of a pro-poor policy environment, and allocation of a greater volume of resources targeted to the poor with greater effectiveness. This needs to be complemented by better partnership among government, civil society and the private sector so that the poor are empowered to take responsibility for their own development.

This document from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations provides evidence on the vital role of women in agriculture and rural development. It demonstrates that eliminating the gap between men and women in access to agricultural resources and inputs would raise yields on women’s farms by 20-30 percent and increase agricultural production in developing countries by 2.5-4 percent, which could in turn reduce the number of undernourished people in the world by 12-17 percent or 100-150 million people.

The Rockefeller Foundation’s Developing Climate Change Resilience Initiative aims to catalyze attention, funding and action to promote resilience to climate change on several levels. This initiative focuses on three pivotal areas: Asian urban environments, African agriculture and US policy. It is creating models for action on climate change in cities—models that can be replicated and expanded in other regions. It is helping adapt African agriculture to cope with environmental changes. And it is promoting awareness and guiding funders and policymakers to support broader action on climate change resilience, nationally and internationally, to help poor and vulnerable people around the world..

Nike believes in the power of human potential to accomplish anything: on the field, on the court, in life. The foundation is applying that belief to poverty in the developing world, an issue that impacts everyone’s future. Seeking out where it could make the greatest impact, the Nike Foundation found it in adolescent girls. Invest in them, the theory goes, and you will unleash a powerful ripple effect.

The Girl Effect is a movement driven by girl champions around the globe. The Nike Foundation created the Girl Effect with critical financial and intellectual contributions by the NoVo Foundation and Nike Inc. and in collaboration with key partners such as the United Nations Foundation and the Coalition for Adolescent Girls.

A comprehensive source of maps and data on the status of adolescent girls worldwide, Girls Discovered helps donors, policy makers and implementing agencies target their investments. This one-stop shop for information on adolescent girls is sourced from organizations operating in the public interest, and is meant for researchers, practitioners, advocates, policy-makers and the public–anyone who seeks change for the world’s 600 million adolescent girls.

International Center for Research on Women identifies women's contributions to their communities and the barriers – like HIV, violence, lack of education – that prevent them from being economically stable and able to fully participate in society.