Alleviating poverty through indirect climate change adaptation

Adapting to climate change is vital for all countries, especially those in developing regions. However, the priority for many people in poor countries is escaping from poverty and maintaining their livelihoods, rather than adapting to climate change.

Poor people suffer from many forms ofdeprivation. Low incomes, a lack of economic opportunities and limited politicalfreedom combine with many other factors to make millions of people highlyvulnerable. Many develop the resilience to resist and recover from shocks, butthis resilience is being reduced by increasing climatic variability.

The Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange predicts that the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic eventswill increase. Other changes to the climate, including temperature extremes andmoderate droughts, will also increase. These will all increase thevulnerability of poor people.

Research by Northumbria University, inthe UK, and the Centre for Energy, Environment Science and Technology (the CEESTFoundation), in Tanzania, considers the links between climate change andpoverty alleviation.

The researchers studied the Chagga people in Tanzania, who face a range of pressures insustaining their livelihoods. Climatic variation is one pressure, but it is notcurrently a priority for the Chagga people. In fact, someof the measures they use to reduce their immediate financial pressures – suchas cutting down trees – may reduce their opportunities to adapt to climatechange in the future.

Adapting to climate change may not be apriority for poor communities at present, but it can still be achieved through‘indirect adaptation’. These are actions that provide basic needs such as food,rather than actions taken as a direct response to climate change. But through theseactions, people are indirectly increasing their resilience to climatic hazards.

• Indirectadaptations to the effects of climate change include diversifying crops,increasing food security through higher incomes and securing access toproductive land.
• Improved accessto safe water, sanitation, energy, education and employment are also indirectadaptations.
• Indirectadaptations are effective in the short term, as they help people to meet theirimmediate needs, but they may work against longer term resilience to climatechange.

While people's basic needs of food,sanitation, security and income are not being met, they are unable to implementlong term strategies to adapt to climate change. Indirect adaptations that meetbasic needs and build resilience to climatic variation provide a way forwardfor policy in the meantime, as long as they do not threaten longer termsustainability.

Climate change adaptation can no longerbe seen as a separate issue from global poverty. The researchers conclude:

• Global povertyalleviation must be the starting point of any global agreements on climatechange.  
• Efforts toprevent dangerous climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions must notlimit the development aspirations of poorer countries.
• Poorer countriesmust receive financial, political and technological support in order to developless polluting technology.