Attempts to clarify the relationship between adaptation and development by analyzing 135 projects, policies, and other initiatives from the developing world that have been labeled by implementers or researchers as "adaptation to climate change." Confusion about the relationship between adaptation and development has meant that funding mechanisms may create redundancies or leave gaps in the landscape of critical adaptation and development activities.

Drawing on Internet resources, Weathering the Storm attempts to clarify this relationship by analyzing 135 projects, policies, and other initiatives from the developing world that have been labeled by implementers or researchers as "adaptation to climate change."

The report analyzes the objectives of initiatives and the strategies utilized in implementation to characterize some of the ways that adaptation and development overlap. A continuum of activities from "pure" development to "pure" climate change is proposed as a conceptual framework to understand when different "development" activities may play an "adaptation" function. Recommendations address governance challenges, funding implications, and next steps in analysis and policy development.

Author: Heather McGray, Anne Hammill, Rob Bradley, with E. Lisa Schipper and Jo-Ellen Parry
November, 2007 ISBN: 978-1-56973-672-2

Information Provided by Carol Lombard, Department of Social Development Population Website