ABSTRACT
The climate is changing, and there is growing recognition that the social dimensions of vulnerability and adaptation must be brought to the forefront of development policies and practices. Until now, adaptation has most often been approached in an instrumental way, by promoting technical interventions and capacity-building programmes aimed at helping people to minimize the risks associated with specific climate impacts, such as higher temperatures, more frequent droughts, larger storm surges or greater flooding. Adaptation is being absorbed into prevailing approaches to development and ‘mainstreamed’ into every domain and sector, from health, education and governance, to agriculture, water resources, infrastructure and many others. In fact, the unprecedented risks associated with climate change – in the near term but especially in the long term – indicate that transformation of development itself may be required if we are to deal with climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, along with other social and ecological challenges.
