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This paper reviews the current theoretical scholarship on maladaptation and provides some specific case studies – in the Maldives, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Bangladesh – to advance the field by offering an improved conceptual understanding and more practice-oriented insights.
The authors highlight four main dimensions to assess the risk of maladaptation: process, multiple drivers, temporal scales and spatial scales. They also describe three examples of frameworks – the Pathways, Precautionary and Assessment frameworks – that can help capture the risk of maladaptation on the ground. Both these conceptual and practical developments support the need for putting the risk of maladaptation at the top of the planning agenda.
The paper argues that starting with the intention to avoid mistakes and not lock-in detrimental effects of adaptation-labeled initiatives is a first, key step to the wider process of adapting to climate variability and change. It thus advocates for the anticipation of the risk of maladaptation to become a priority for decision-makers and stakeholders at large, from the international to the local levels.
Such a nex ante approach, however, supposes to get a clearer understanding of what maladaptation is. Ultimately, the paper affirms that a challenge for future research consists in developing context-specific guidelines that will allow funding bodies to make the best decisions to support adaptation (i.e., by better capturing the risk of maladaptation) and practitioners to design adaptation initiatives with a low risk of maladaptation.
Read the paper (external link to journal)
SEI Affiliated Researcher
Other publication / This brief highlights the importance of cooperation for strengthening regional resilience to cascading climate risks in the Hindu Kush Himalaya.
Other publication / Seven perspectives on how the current food crisis and the global interlinkages of the agricultural sector are unfolding in East Africa and Southeast Asia.
Past event / The Global Challenges Foundation hosts the "Adaptation – business opportunities and responsibilities" open event at COP27 on 12 November 2022 in the Blue Zone.
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