22 April 2012: The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) Sixth International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA6) brought stakeholders and practitioners together to discuss community-based adaptation (CBA) planning and practices. The conference focused on communicating how communities are adapting to climate change, and addressed the following themes: scaling-up CBA; water resources; biodiversity and forests; coastal zones; health; disaster risk reduction (DRR); and vulnerable communities, including indigenous people.

CBA6 took place from 16-22 April 2012, in Hanoi, Viet Nam, bringing together over 500 participants. The event began with field trips around Viet Nam to visit projects addressing problems such as flooding, saltwater intrusion and drought. During a session on children as drivers of change, Jill Lawler, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), summarized the findings of a regional report on Children’s Vulnerability to Climate Change and Disaster Impacts in East Asia and the Pacific.

During a session on increasing community resilience, Robin Mearns, World Bank, underscored that cross-boundary institutions increase the long-term sustainability of participatory, community based-processes embedded in nationally owned systems. Nguyen Thi Kim Anh, UN Development Programme (UNDP), highlighted the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) in Viet Nam, which provides grants in the areas of biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, combating land and desertification, as well as CBA programmes. Rajan Kotru and Navraj Pradhan, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), highlighted ‘no regrets’ adaptation projects and emphasized the importance of institutional capacity at the local level for adaptation.

During a session on emerging challenges for CBA Charles Nyandiga, UNDP, discussed institutional, technological, social and organizational barriers to implementing CBA activities, and Sladjana Cosic, World Bank, highlighted social accountability in adaptation finance. Margareta Wahlström, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for DRR, welcomed Viet Nam’s Community-based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) Programme and National Climate Change Strategy. [UNISDR Press Release] [IIED CBA6 Website] [IIED CBA6 Session Details]