The issue of climate change can seem remote, compared with such immediate problems as poverty, disease and economic stagnation. Yet, climate change can directly affect the efficiency of resource investments and eventual achievement of many development objectives. How development occurs also has implications for climate change itself and the vulnerability of societies to its impacts. There is therefore a need to link climate change considerations with development priorities....

Climate change can appear remote compared with problems such as poverty, disease and economic stagnation. Development planners are often unsure how it will affect their work, and whether and how to integrate or “mainstream” climate change considerations within their activities. Climate change is in fact intricately tied to many development objectives. Furthermore, how development occurs has implications for climate change as well as the vulnerability of societies to its impacts. This chapter outlines the links between climate change and development. It defines key concepts including weather, climate variability and climate change, and response measures, particularly adaptation to climate change impacts and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. The chapter then outlines the framework of case studies of Bangladesh, Egypt, Fiji, Nepal, Tanzania and Uruguay, which were conducted as part of an OECD project on mainstreaming responses to climate change in development planning and assistance.

Development planners need a better appreciation of climate change projections and the associated uncertainty in order to determine how to factor this information into their activities, and to what extent. Full understanding might ultimately require climate change risk assessment tailored to the locations, variables and time horizons of relevance to specific development activities, but that is beyond the scope of this analysis. This chapter provides an overview of the baseline climate for each case study country, followed by climate change projections along with an assessment of the associated uncertainty. A multi-criteria analytical framework is then proposed to classify climate change impacts by level of certainty, timing and the significance of the sector affected. National and regional planners could use such a framework to establish priorities for adaptation and mainstreaming.

Climate change can affect the efficiency with which development resources are invested and the eventual achievement of many development objectives. Hence the need for mainstreaming of climate change response measures in development initiatives. This chapter examines government- and donor-supported initiatives in each case study country. An analytical framework is developed to quantify exposure of development aid portfolios to climate risk using the Creditor Reporting System database, which provides standardised information on aid flows. This is followed by an analysis of high-level strategy documents, sectoral plans and project documents to assess the degree of attention being paid to climate change impacts and adaptation.

Natural resources and their management form a critical interface between climate change and development. The impacts of climate change can affect the quality and reliability of many of the services natural resources provide. On the other hand, natural resources play an important role in greenhouse gas mitigation and also serve as a first line of defence against climate change. This chapter examines opportunities and trade-offs in integrating climate change considerations in natural resource management in six key systems:  the Nepal Himalayas, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the Nile in Egypt, the Bangladesh Sundarbans, coastal mangroves in Fiji and the agriculture and forestry sectors in Uruguay. Climate change impacts and adaptation are the primary focus in five cases, while that of Uruguay examines links with mitigation.

This volume has explored the synergies and trade-offs involved in mainstreaming climate change in development activities, focusing on natural resource management. Findings from this work underscore the need for, and the challenges faced in, taking climate change into account in development activities. This concluding chapter summarises the findings and then outlines some of the principal barriers facing the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation in development activities. The chapter concludes with an agenda for further action organised around improving the usability of climate information, developing and testing climate risk screening tools, employing appropriate entry points for climate information in development activities, focusing more on implementation, and improving co-ordination and sharing of good practices.