Growing the Capacity for Climate Change Adaptation

Basics #

Question How can organizations, businesses, governments, and individuals coordinate to ensure the implementation of effective domestic and international strategies to prepare for the effects of climate change?

Contest main page Submit proposals at https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans

Deadline June 15, 2013, at 11:59 Eastern Standard Time

Rules All entrants must agree to the 2012-13 contest rules.

Prizes The contest winners will be invited to present their work at the Crowds and Climate Conference at MIT November 6-7, 2013, and at the event, a $10,000 Grand Prize will be awarded to one of the contest winners

Related contests

• Adaptation and Civil-Society Groups
• Urban Adaptation

Guidelines from the contest Advisor(s) and Fellow(s) #

Opportunity/challenge #

Given the large potential impacts of climate change globally, there is a need for international coordination of efforts to ensure that effective strategies are employed by localities at all stages of development. Business, government, and other international organizations may all play potentially important roles in ensuring that there is sufficient capacity to prepare for a changing climate.

Key issues #

The complexity of international coordination is a major challenge. How can innovative partnerships create new opportunities to overcome institutional barriers to action? We have identified four major opportunities to increase capacity to adapt on both domestic and international scales:

• Institutions
  Institutional organizations will play a large role in determining how approaches are coordinated on local and international scales. Innovative partnerships with the involvement of a diverse array of stakeholders may increase the global capacity for adaptation.
• Research
  There is a significant opportunity to coordinate and increase funding for research efforts in determining the most effective adaptation strategies.
• Education
  We already have a fairly large body of knowledge on climate change adaptation strategies, but can find better means of organizing and communicating that knowledge to relevant stakeholders.
• Financing
  Adaptation measures will not be cheap, and the associated costs will not be shared equally among at-risk nations. It remains to be seen how we will raise or set aside enough money to adapt effectively.

Judges #

Judges for the contest will be Henry Jacoby and Gene Skolnikoff at MIT, as well as Matthias Ruth at Northeastern University.

References #

• IPCC, 2012, Summary for Policymakers, in Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation
• UN Environmental Programme, Climate Change Adaptation
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Adaptation
• World Bank, Climate Change Adaptation
• US National Climate Assessment, Chapter 28: Adaptation (Draft)
• US National Research Council, Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change