The impacts of Climate Change (CC) are emerging all over the world. However, much of the science and decision making remains at the national and international scale, with very little understanding of how things are transforming at the local level. To address this the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) through their Development Assistance Committee (DAC) have initiated a multi-year program on local Climate Adaptation Governance, which will update their existing position.
Ritodhi has been working as a consultant with this project to deliver a study focussed on social ecological systems of the Himalayas and the ways in which they are transforming and identify local instances of adaptation.
This study will highlight multi-level actors involved in adaptation strategies in the Indian Himalayan Region, but also explore if Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is assisting or hampering in the variety of adaptation actions underway at the local scale. To do this we are drawing on years of work with hundreds of families in the Himalayan region. Additionally, we are also evaluating the synergies between what local communities want in terms of climate adaptation and the financial and political aspirations of donors, sub-national institutions and national governments.
Ultimately, this study should help address instances of maldaptation which are a persistant problem with adaptation planning across the world, but also identify grass root strategies which are successful in responding to climate change impacts and are currently being overlooked by top-down institutional initiatives.
Keeping in line with Tohu’s goals, this work addresses questions of justice and representation which are sorely lacking in long term climate change policies and strategies.
