Adaptation Funds: An Issue of Equity

Hey all,

During my first day at the UN Conference, I was able to sit in on a few discussions and presentations regarding the issue of adaptation funds. These funds represent a transfer of wealth from developed to developing nations to help impoverished people of the world adapt and cope more readily with climate change. Funds are used to provide fresh water when continual droughts caused by climate warming lead to insecurity, or food when these same droughts lead to the desertification of lands once used for agriculture. The issue being addressed throughout was not whether these funds would be provided (which is, of course, still an undetermined issue), but rather to whom funds would be allocated to.

The most vulnerable communities are the hardest hit by climate change. This includes poor communities with marginal access to needed resources and those who live off their land directly, especially indigenous people. Seeing as how the livelihood of these communities is at stake, these projects, funded through organizations such as CARE, the main advocated for financial transfer, focus on ensuring that mechanisms get the funds to the communities that need them most.

Throughout the presentation, CARE argued that the most vulnerable communities need to be prioritized when making funding decisions, and that they also need to have a say in what they spend this funding on. They focus on all needs being taken into account, as well as what can be dealt with and what cannot.

Also featured was the plight of people in the most vulnerable communities, areas where financial assistance is needed now. In Zimbabwe, for example, the capacity of the provincial government to undertake adaptation projects was examined, with a specific look at the needs of the communities in the worst shape. In Nepal, extensive training has been help to help officials act in the best interest of their people. Ghana, through Community Action Planning, has undertaken community empowerment projects to ensure all were able to articulate their needs, and more importantly, t0 translate them into planning measures.

The most effective push for community development and empowerment is seen in Tigray, Ethiopia, where the issue of water insecurity has been addressed by institutional collaboration and investment to improve water harvesting techniques. The vulnerable communities of the area are prone to frequent drought that is only worsened by climate change. Through water harvesting projects, these communities learned to irrigate, use water more efficiently and in a sustainable way, and improve agricultural yield.

These presentations were of vital importance. We need to understand not only the issue of climate change, but also the substantial effect it has on already marginalized communities– those with the smallest carbon footprint that are the most at risk. For me, the idea of adaptation funds is new, and it was interesting to see how this is being addressed in international negotiations like this. I feel we need to look not only at how we stabilize the climate system, but also how we bring stability to the impoverished and vulnerable nations of this world. We must not leave the least developed countries out of the solution.

-Tiffany Mayville