Preliminary review of adaptation options for climate-sensitive ecosystems and resources (2025)

Adaptation Options on natural ecosystems. A report to the UNFCCC Secretariat, Financial and Technical Support Division

2007

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies to Reduce Climate Vulnerabilities and Maintain Ecosystem Services

Climate Vulnerability, 2013

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Some Guidelines for Helping Natural Resources Adapt to Climate Change

Regions: Laboratories for …

Ecosystem-based Adaptation to Climate Change: Review of Concepts

In the international climate policy arena, it has become increasingly recognised that ecosystem-based approaches “can offer cost-effective, proven and sustainable solutions contributing to, and complementing, other national and regional adaptation strategies” (World Bank, 2009, p. 8). Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) is often advocated as a particularly well-suited climate adaptation approach especially in developing and least developed countries (Bourne et al., 2016; Pasquilini and Cowling, 2015; World Bank, 2009). Its perceived strength lies in the premise that adaptation strategies need to address both ecosystems and livelihoods, given these are crucially intertwined and both under a threat from climate change (Munroe et al., 2012; Roberts et al., 2012). Many recent reviews have tried to better understand what exactly EbA is, what its current challenges are and what opportunities it offers (Chong, 2014; Doswald et al., 2014; Ojea, 2014; Reid, 2015). While these recent reviews provide useful information on how EbA is being approached, there seems to be a tacit assumption that people generally agree and know what ‘ecosystem-based adaptation’ means. This may not be the case, and this review seeks to contribute to clarifying the concept. The purpose of this report is to provide analysis of the key concepts included and embedded in EbA discourse, and examine what exactly forms the essence of ‘EbA-ness’ in adaptation policy and research activities. More specifically the review focused on identifying different EbA definitions, and on differentiating assumed benefits, and the enablers for effective EbA. Specific analysis of the constraints is presented elsewhere (Nalau et al., under review) although we touch upon some generic issues regarding constraints and limits also in this report. The report found that overall the discourse in regards to preferring EbA as an adaptation approach includes such concepts as co-benefits and trade-offs, which all relate also to the ways EbA is constrained and/or enabled as an option for climate change adaptation. The main constraints related mostly to issues of governance systems and hierarchies, social and cultural constraints, knowledge-related issues and gaps, and physical constraints and limits. In contrast, the enabling factors related mostly to governance and knowledge aspects, with heavy emphasis on multi-stakeholder participation, and using diverse sets of knowledges, which are seen to enable a more equitable and just approach to climate change adaptation in particular in the Pacific region. Recommendations put forward include the need to provide well-documented case studies of EbA in the region, which crystallise the main lessons learned, including the practical challenges in designing and implementing multi-stakeholder projects, and how EbA can be measured and monitored to ensure it is delivering the expected benefits. Increasing the evidence base for EbA, while remaining realistic about the political and governance systems and capacity to adapt, is an important next step. More research should also examine the decision-making processes and to identify the main influencing factors when making decisions on adaptation options, and examine the robustness of EbA ‘heuristics’ in use.

Moving the Conservation Goalposts: a review of climate change adaptation literature

National Wildlife Federation, pp25, 2011

Climate change vulnerability assessment of species

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change

Making the Case for Ecosystem-based Adaption - Building Resilience to Climate Change

Summary of Key Points: - Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) provides numerous opportunities for natural solutions to manage the impacts of climate change. - EbA interventions generate a range of significant social, economic, and environmental co-benefits by reducing society’s vulnerability to natural hazards, improving the availability of ecosystem services essential to support livelihoods and protecting biodiversity through sustainably managing ecosystems. - Evidence shows that as part of an integrated adaptation approach, EbA requires comparatively small investment relative to the long-term social, economic and environmental benefits it generates. - Despite the numerous advantages of EbA, its implementation remains limited by three key challenges: lack of information, lack of financial resources, and institutional resistance. - Action is needed to mainstream ecosystem-based approaches into national climate change adaptation strategies to make full use of their many opportunities. - ...

Ecosystem-based Adaptation: A review of the constraints

In the international climate policy arena, Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) has become the preferred adaptation approach to climate change in the least developed and developing countries. Its perceived strength lies in the premise that adaptation strategies need to address both ecosystems and livelihoods simultaneously, given these are crucially intertwined and both under a threat from climate change. While EbA has certainly made progress as an adaptation approach, a lack of understanding still exists how EbA approaches contribute to 'effective' adaptation, including the circumstances where they face constraints and limits. Furthermore, implementation of EbA approaches ideally requires a level of understanding about ecosystem structure, productivity and dynamics, and how these are affected by climate change and other direct anthropogenic stressors, that are rarely available in developing countries. This paper aimed to synthesise the current knowledge in the emerging body of EbA specific literature on the kinds of constraints that hamper the use of EbA. Our analysis examined the following constraints: economic and financial, governance and institutional, social and cultural, knowledge constraints and gaps, and physical and biological constraints and limits. The identified constraints demonstrate the complexities in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating EbA and propose significant further areas of research, including the need to provide well-documented case studies of EbA, which crystallise the main lessons learned such as practical challenges in designing and implementing EbA projects and research programs.

Preparing for and managing change: climate adaptation for biodiversity and ecosystems

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2013

Overview—Climate Change and Adaptation

AIP Conference Proceedings, 2009

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