April 2015: The Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) has provided an update on a common research programme on climate change adaptation that is carried out by four consortia. The four consortia are: Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR); Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation (DECCMA); Himalayan Adaptation, Water, and Resilience (HI-AWARE); and Pathways to Resilience in Semi-Arid Economies (PRISE).

Each consortium is looking at how to improve the resilience of the poor and their livelihoods in semi-arid regions, deltas, and glacier and snowpack-dependent river basins in Africa and Asia (climate change hotspots).

Working in 11 countries in the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia that are particularly vulnerable to climate-related impacts and risks regions, ASSAR seeks to understand the factors that have precluded climate change adaptation from being more widespread and successful. The project is also investigating the processes that can facilitate a shift from ad hoc to large-scale adaptation. ASSAR aims to meet the needs of government and practitioner stakeholders by helping to shape more effective policy frameworks and to develop more lasting adaptation responses.

The DECCMA project aims to analyze the impacts of climate change and other environmental drivers across contrasting deltas in Africa and Asia. DECCMA seeks to address processes of migration by using survey, participatory research and economic methods. Potential migration of men and women will be contrasted with other adaptation approaches using “a stakeholder-driven and co-produced integrated assessment approach.”

HI-AWARE is conducting research and pilot activities, capacity building and policy engagement on climate resilience and adaptation in the mountains and flood plains of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins. It aims to contribute to enhanced climate resilience and adaptive capacities of the poor and vulnerable living in these river basins by leveraging research and pilot outcomes to influence policy and practice.

The PRISE project relies on research and stakeholder engagement to strengthen the commitment of policy makers, businesses, financial institutions and civil society to rapid, inclusive and resilient development in the face of climate change. The PRISE research framework focuses on: climate risk management; governance, institutions and finance; market and value chains; natural capital; and human capital. The PRISE research agenda will be defined in the near future, and its official website will be launched shortly. [CARIAA Webpage] [ASSAR Website] [DECCMA Website] [HI-AWARE Website] [Innovation, Environnement, Développement Press Release on PRISE Meeting]