Adaptation to Climate Change

Global climate change and the significant impacts it can have on people’s lives are a major challenge for developing countries. Heavy floods, severe droughts and other weather extremes are examples of those impacts which call for building up capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change. While climate change will affect all regions of the world, people in developing countries are the most vulnerable. That is why adaptation is a priority for German development cooperation, with many programmes already addressing the challenge in partner countries. Now that the need for adaptation to climate change has been generally accepted as an immediate priority, it is time to bundle the knowledge and focus on how to adapt.   This publication addresses precisely this point. The chapters explore different dimensions of adaptive capacity that are needed to prevent or reduce negative impacts of climate change. These include, for example, access to climate information, capacity to mainstream and devise strategies on adaptation, and the ability to identify appropriate adaptation techniques in sectors where this is particularly urgent.