GECHS

GECHS Associate Siri Eriksen and IPO staffer Kirsten Ulsrud, along with co-authors Jeremy Lind and Bernard Muok, have published a policy brief for the African Centre for Technology Studies on the “Urgent Need to Increase Adaptive Capacities”. The article presents new research on the interactions between conflicts and climate change adaptation, and makes recommendations for actions to assist the adaptation and development process of people in a constant state of crisis. The findings are derived from a three-year project on climate adaptation as a livelihood struggle among dryland populations in Kenya.

[Download the policy brief]

GECHS SSC member Ken Conca has recently published “The New Face of Water Conflict” as part of a new series of policy-friendly briefs published by The Navigating Peace Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program. The series examines how water can contribute to cooperation between states, while addressing water’s role in conflict within states. The briefs offer policy recommendations for using water resources management to head off conflict and to support sustainable peace among countries.

Barnett, J. Webber, M. Wang, M. Finlayson, B. and Dickinson, D. 2006. ‘Ten Key Questions About the Human Dimensions of Water in the Yellow River Basin’, Environmental Management, 38(2): 179-188.

Abstract: Water is scarce in many regions of the world, clean water is difficult to find in most developing countries, there are conflicts between irrigation needs and urban demands, and there is wide debate over appropriate means of resolving these problems. Similarly, in China, there is limited understanding of the ways in which people, groups, and institutions contribute to, are affected by, and respond to changes in water quantity and quality. We use the example of the Yellow River basin to argue that these social, managerial, and policy dimensions of the present water problems are significant and overshadow the physical ones. Despite this, they receive relatively little attention in the research agenda, particularly of the lead agencies in the management of the Yellow River basin. To this end, we ask ten research questions needed to address the policy needs of water management in the basin, split into two groups of five. The first five relate to the importance of water in this basin and the changes that have affected water problems and will continue to do so. The second five questions represent an attempt to explore possible solutions to these problems.

GECHS Chair Karen O’Brien, along with four co-authors, has recently analyzed the wider social impacts of climate change in Europe. They have questioned the current complacency regarding climate change impacts, vulnerability, and the ability to adapt in Europe. The study, published in Ambio (Vol. 35 No. 2), concluded that greater attention needs to be paid to the social context and consequences of climate change, and to possible adaptation strategies. Download a summary.

A summary of the workshop that was held in January on climate change and poverty is now available. The objective of this workshop was to discuss climate-poverty links relevant to mainstreaming adaptation to climate change into official development assistance. Participants from development agencies and academia shared experiences and information needs, including the challenges of linking scientific research on vulnerability with development projects aimed at reducing poverty.