Adapting to Coastal Climate Change: A Guidebook for Development Planners

We are pleased to announce the availability of a New Guide on Coastal Climate Change Adaptation.

Adapting to Coastal Climate Change: A Guidebook for Development Planners provides a detailed treatment of climate concerns and adaptation options in coastal areas. The new Guidebook will assist practitioners and development partners to understand the diversity of climate change impacts expected to affect coastal zones in the developing world, and the options that exist for coastal planners and manager to assist coastal communities worldwide to begin to adapt to these impacts. The document is both a tool itself and a link to other resources valuable for assessing vulnerability, developing and implementing adaptation , and integrating options into programs, plans, and projects. The Guidebook is now available for download at http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_programs/water/news_announce...

The Guidebook was a collaborative effort of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center, and International Resources Group, together with input from practitioners from multiple institutions, including the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The document received considerable input and review by an expert Advisory Committee, and benefitted from feedback received at several training events sponsored by USAID over the past 18 months.

The coastal Guidebook is divided into three sections. The Summary for Policy Makers, provides an overview of the critical issues and introduces the process to incorporate adaptation within coastal programs. The Chapters provide practical insight, tools, and references to plan and implement coastal adaptation. Chapters 1 through 3 highlight vulnerability assessment and action planning, while Chapters 4 through 6 focus on how adaptation can be mainstreamed, implemented and evaluated. The Annex of Adaptation Measures includes 17 practitioner briefs which outline approaches for adaptation through management actions and strategies. Many of these will be familiar to coastal management professionals—the climate lens is new, but in most cases the tools are not. A climate change lens means planning with a longer time scale and a wider range of possible variability in mind.

The team is currently applying the tools and methods in a pilot activity in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and delivering training in a variety of venues in collaboration with NOAA and other host country nationals. These initiatives provide hands-on training for those involved in undertaking vulnerability analyses, and the design and implementation of adaptation measures around a suite of coastal resource management goals, including:

functioning and healthy coastal ecosystems
less exposed built environments
diversified livelihoods
human health and safety
overarching planning and governance

For additional information please contact USAID’s Richard Volk (Water team) or John Furlow (Climate Program) at climatechange@USAID.gov or Pam Rubinoff, URI Coastal Resources Center, at climatechange@crc.uri.edu.

For updates on the application of the Guidebook, please visit the URI CRC web page. http://www.crc.uri.edu/index.php?projectid=106

Pam Rubinoff
Coastal Resources Center
University of Rhode Island
www.crc.uri.edu