How five countries are adapting to the climate crisis – The Conversation

Global Climate Adaptation and Sustainable Development Goals: A Status Report

Introduction: The Imperative for Enhanced Climate Action

• Global temperatures are projected to increase by at least 2°C, exacerbating extreme weather events such as heatwaves, hurricanes, droughts, and floods.
• Current climate adaptation measures are insufficient to manage these escalating risks, threatening the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• This report assesses various national adaptation strategies and their alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a primary focus on SDG 13 (Climate Action).

Country-Specific Adaptation Strategies and SDG Linkages

Bangladesh: Early Warning Systems and Resilience

• Climate Challenge: High vulnerability to cyclones, sea-level rise, and river flooding due to its low-lying coastal geography.
• Adaptation Strategy: Implementation of advanced early warning systems to reduce fatalities from cyclones.
• SDG Implications:
  1. SDG 1 (No Poverty) & SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities): While early warning systems protect lives and infrastructure, escalating climate impacts threaten to reverse progress, potentially causing large-scale displacement and increasing poverty.
  2. SDG 13 (Climate Action): Bangladesh demonstrates leadership in adaptation, but the scale of future threats indicates that current approaches will not be sufficient to build long-term climate resilience.

Tuvalu: Land Reclamation and Climate Mobility

• Climate Challenge: Existential threat from sea-level rise, coastal flooding, and salination of freshwater supplies.
• Adaptation Strategy: Investing in land reclamation projects and establishing a migration agreement with Australia.
• SDG Implications:
  1. SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) & SDG 14 (Life Below Water): Salination compromises access to safe drinking water, and rising seas threaten marine and coastal ecosystems.
  2. SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities): Land reclamation is a direct effort to preserve habitable land, but its long-term viability is uncertain without global progress on emission reductions.
  3. SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): The migration agreement highlights the inequalities faced by small island developing states, which bear the brunt of climate change despite minimal contributions.

United Kingdom: Institutional Monitoring and Food Security Risks

• Climate Challenge: Increased risk of flooding affecting prime agricultural land and vulnerability to climate-related disruptions in global food import supply chains.
• Adaptation Strategy: An independent body, the Climate Change Committee, monitors and reports on adaptation progress, though implementation is lagging.
• SDG Implications:
  1. SDG 2 (Zero Hunger): Climate impacts pose a significant threat to national food security, affecting both domestic production and the stability of imported food supplies.
  2. SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions): The UK has strong institutional frameworks for monitoring, but a gap exists between assessment and effective action, hindering progress on SDG 13.

Kenya: Locally-Led Climate Action

• Climate Challenge: Various climate impacts requiring tailored, community-level responses.
• Adaptation Strategy: Devolving decision-making and funding to local committees, allowing communities to prioritise adaptation projects like shifting to new crop varieties.
• SDG Implications:
  1. SDG 1 (No Poverty) & SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): Empowering local communities ensures that adaptation measures are relevant and equitable, directly addressing the needs of the most vulnerable.
  2. SDG 2 (Zero Hunger): Supporting transitions to resilient agriculture is crucial for maintaining livelihoods and food security in a changing climate.
  3. SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions): This model promotes inclusive and participatory decision-making, strengthening governance for climate action.

Australia: Economic Costs and National Planning

• Climate Challenge: Severe risks from flooding, extreme heat, and bushfires, leading to high economic costs and uninsurable properties.
• Adaptation Strategy: Deployment of the defence force for disaster response and the development of a national adaptation plan that acknowledges potential relocation.
• SDG Implications:
  1. SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) & SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities): The rising cost of climate disasters and the increasing number of uninsurable properties threaten economic stability and the sustainability of communities.
  2. SDG 13 (Climate Action): The national plan signals a recognition of the need for transformative adaptation, including managed retreat and agricultural shifts.
  3. SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions): Over-reliance on military for disaster response highlights the strain on national institutions and the need for dedicated civilian resilience capabilities.

Conclusion: The Need for Transformative Adaptation to Achieve the SDGs

• While nations are making progress on adaptation through early warning systems and institutional development, these efforts are insufficient for the projected 2-3°C of warming.
• Achieving the 2030 Agenda requires a paradigm shift in adaptation. This involves:
  1. An urgent global transition away from fossil fuels to mitigate further warming, directly supporting SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 13.
  2. Implementing transformative strategies that address fundamental shifts in livelihoods, settlement patterns, and food systems.
  3. Integrating climate adaptation deeply into all national planning to safeguard progress across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
• Failure to adopt this new reality and plan for a significantly warmer world will undermine global development and jeopardise the well-being of future generations.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The article primarily focuses on climate change adaptation, which directly connects to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main SDGs addressed are:

• SDG 13: Climate Action: This is the central theme of the article. It discusses the escalating effects of climate change, such as heatwaves, floods, and droughts, and evaluates the adaptation measures being taken by various countries to build resilience against these impacts.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: The article highlights the vulnerability of human settlements to climate-related disasters. It mentions risks like sea-level rise in Bangladesh and Tuvalu, flooding threatening agricultural land and properties in the UK and Australia, and the need for disaster risk reduction strategies like early warning systems.
• SDG 2: Zero Hunger: The connection to this goal is made explicit in the section on the UK, which discusses threats to “food security” from flooding of agricultural land and disruptions to food import supply chains. The mention of Kenya needing to shift to “new crop varieties” also relates directly to ensuring food production in a changing climate.
• SDG 1: No Poverty: The article emphasizes the disproportionate impact of climate change on the most vulnerable nations, such as Bangladesh and Tuvalu. The discussion of large-scale displacement and the need for locally-led adaptation projects in Kenya points to the goal of building the resilience of the poor against climate shocks.
• SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation: This goal is addressed through the example of Tuvalu, which faces the “salination of water supplies” due to sea-level rise. This highlights the threat climate change poses to freshwater resources.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: The article mentions a “migration agreement with neighbouring Australia” signed by Tuvalu. This represents a bilateral partnership formed to address the consequences of climate change, aligning with the goal of strengthening global partnerships for sustainable development.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the issues and actions described, the following specific SDG targets can be identified:

1. Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
   • Explanation: The entire article is an analysis of this target. It details the adaptation measures in Bangladesh (early warning systems), Tuvalu (land reclamation), the UK (independent monitoring), Kenya (locally-led projects), and Australia (national adaptation plan), all of which are efforts to strengthen resilience.
2. Target 11.5: By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected… caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations.
   • Explanation: The article directly references this target’s success in Bangladesh, where early warning systems have “dramatically reduced deaths” from cyclones. The focus on vulnerable nations like Bangladesh and Tuvalu aligns with the target’s emphasis on protecting vulnerable populations.
3. Target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that… strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters.
   • Explanation: The article discusses the threat of flooding to “over half of the UK’s best agricultural land” and the need for Kenyan farmers to consider “shifting to new crop varieties or transitioning away from agriculture.” These points directly concern the resilience of food production systems to climate change.
4. Target 1.5: By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events.
   • Explanation: The focus on adaptation measures in highly vulnerable, low-lying countries like Bangladesh and Tuvalu, and the strategy in Kenya to “devolve decisions to local committees,” are direct examples of efforts to build the resilience of vulnerable communities as specified in this target.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

Yes, the article mentions or implies several quantitative and qualitative indicators that can be used to measure progress:

• Number of deaths and affected people from disasters: The article explicitly states that in Bangladesh, early warning systems have “dramatically reduced deaths.” This is a direct indicator for Target 11.5.
• Proportion of properties at high risk of disasters: The article provides a specific statistic for Australia: “one in every 25 properties will be at high risk of disasters and uninsurable by 2030.” This serves as a quantitative indicator of vulnerability and exposure to climate risks.
• Proportion of agricultural land vulnerable to climate change: For the UK, the article notes that “over half of the UK’s best agricultural land is at risk of flooding.” This is a clear indicator of the threat to food security and the resilience of agricultural systems (Target 2.4).
• Adoption of national/local adaptation strategies: The article implies this indicator by mentioning the existence of specific plans and institutions, such as Bangladesh’s “early warning systems,” the UK’s “independent body (the Climate Change Committee),” Kenya’s “channels to devolve decisions to local committees,” and Australia’s “national adaptation plan.” These represent progress in implementing Target 13.1.
• Threats to freshwater resources: The mention of “salination of water supplies” in Tuvalu serves as a qualitative indicator of increasing water stress and challenges to SDG 6 due to climate change.

4. Summary of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: theconversation.com