Climate change adaptation research in Asia and Africa

IN the book titled 'Global Warming and the Political Ecology of Health', authors Hans Baer and Merrill Singer mentioned, "Our world is changing in dramatic and consequential ways. From melting glaciers to rising seas, and from increases in violent storms to emergent and spreading of diseases, many of these changes reflect a pattern of planetary warming. While some have called into question whether the changes we are seeing around us are the outcome of something more than cyclical patterns, the sheer volume of mounting data of diverse sorts has convinced most climate scientists that the global warming is real, that it is increasingly threatening to human life and well-being, and that it is largely the result of human or anthropogenic activities, particularly since the industrial revolution."
"We live in an era of man-made climate change. In many cases, we are not prepared for the climate-related risks that we already face. Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future", said Vicente Barros, co-chair of working group II of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) fifth assessment report, 2014.  
IPCC press release of March 31, 2014 stated, "Future risks from a changing climate depend strongly on the amount of future climate change. Increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe and pervasive impacts that may be surprising or irreversible. Observed impacts of climate change have already affected agriculture, human health, ecosystems on land and in the oceans, water supplies, and some people's livelihoods. The striking feature of observed impacts is that they are occurring from the tropics to the poles, from small islands to large continents, and from the wealthiest countries to the poorest."  
 Experts have urged that there is an urgent need to include socio-economic analysis in adaptation practices as the existing economic tools have their own limitations. Research and implementation may focus on the cost-effectiveness of present practices, alternative interventions, and the distributional consequences for particular groups such as the poor and marginalised including women. Loss and damage is a relative newcomer to the climate change agenda. It has the potential to reinvigorate existing mitigation and adaptation efforts, but this will ultimately require leadership from developed countries and enhanced understanding of several key issues, such as limits to adaptation. Institutional arrangements to address loss and damage under the convention must meet this need.
The development of climate change adaptation strategies and policies should be supported by a sound knowledge and understanding of the full range of biophysical impacts, which are characteristic to each geographical location. Collaborative research efforts are emerging as a way to effectively address complex challenges such as adapting to climate change. Collaborations that span geographic, disciplinary and sectoral boundaries represent a divergence from traditional research gap related to conducting consortium-based research, offering benefits, lessons learned and emerging good practices for effective boundary-spanning approaches.
By the middle of this century, the impacts of climate change may demand radical changes in livelihood systems. A new programme jointly funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) takes the long view in addressing how climatic, biophysical, social, political, and economic dynamics interact in semi-arid regions. Researchers supported by the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) will identify relevant drivers and trends to develop scenarios that help communities and decision-makers develop robust adaptation strategies. Research will be carried out in more than 45 countries across Africa, Central and South Asia. It will greatly help policymakers, stakeholders and the beneficiaries understand climate change and adaptation in some of the most vulnerable regions in Asia and Africa including Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The Asia regional launch of CARIAA took place on April 30, 2014 in Kathmandu, Nepal. This writer had the opportunity to attend the event.  
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) - Nepal will lead a CARIAA-supported consortium on river-basins. Implementing partners of the river basin consortium in Asia are: The Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Bangladesh (BCAS); The Energy and Resources Institute, India (TERI); the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Pakistan (PARC) and Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, the Netherlands.
CARIAA will produce a new body of evidence that will inform adaptation plans and policies on a range of scales, from local to regional, and over a variety of timeframes. It will help communities and countries prepare for shifts in their livelihood base as appropriate. It will also build women's expertise in climate change adaptation.  
In favour of this research initiative, Dr Anindya Chatterjee, Asia Regional Director of IDRC, New Delhi, India, pointed out, "The goals of this research are to quickly understand multiple dimensions of climate change and implement projects on climate change adaptation. Among other donors, the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) must come forward with more funding to conduct more necessary research and project implementation."
In fact, the well-established truth is: human-induced climate change must be addressed through human-contributed scientific, evidence-based research. As a result, in terms of climate change adaptation, scientists recommended conducting comprehensive, earlier research to explore the ways of saving our world and its seven billion people from the negative, worse impacts of climate change. As part of developing global partnership, policymakers recommended two-way communications for establishing a win-win situation between developed and developing countries to fight against climate change.
The problem and negative impacts of climate change are global. That is why, every single country of the world, whether developed or developing, must recognize the scientific truth that climate change exists. And it has been creating problems and vulnerabilities against our existence! There is no way of ignoring or denying climate change. So, the time is now to work hard for climate change adaptation and mitigation through taking holistic approach together, everyone of every country. Both print and electronic media must come forward to cover the environment and climate change issues broadly to let the world listen to the voiceless, reach the vulnerable communities, and to know - what is going on where? Because the research shows that we do not have time to waste or be too late. Working earlier is far better than never.

The writer is an award-winning journalist, columnist and author of four books on climate change, women's empowerment, migration and contemporary issues.
Email: [email protected]