Groundwater as a reliable source of high-quality drinking water. In a time where climate change, regional and local water scarcity and droughts are frequent and increasing, groundwater can be a sustainable source of high-quality drinking water. Whether relying on a groundwater supply entirely, or as a supplement to surface water, the potential is considerable.
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Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change. Ghana
The report is organized as follows. The next section puts the study into context by briefly discussing the global EACC study and the EACC methodology, which was applied in this study at a more disaggregated level. The section highlights the differential impacts of climate change among different regions of the world, including Africa. Chapter three presents an overview of the methodology used, including the key assumptions. An effort has been made to present this information in nontechnical language where possible. The more technical aspects of the study can be found in the annexes. The sector results are contained in chapter four. The chapter begins with an overview of the Ghanaian economy, followed by the climate projections for Ghana and the overall economic impacts. Next, the results for each sector are presented in three parts: climate change impacts, the adaptation options, and the adaptation costs. The final chapter concludes with a summary and policy implications.
Climate Change and Agriculture in Latin America, 2020-2050 : Projected Impacts and Response to Adaptation Strategies
The impacts of climate change on agriculture are projected to be significant in coming decades, so response strategies, and their likely costs, should be evaluated now. That is why this study produced an open-access, crop-climate-economic impact modeling platform for Latin America and the Caribbean, that can be extended to other regions, then modified and improved by users as new crop, climate, and economic datasets become available. The new platform projects the likely impacts of agroclimatic factors on crop productivity, on the basis of climate projections from two general circulation models, and couples it with an economic model to derive and evaluate a range of climate-change scenarios and likely agricultural productivity and economic impacts over the next several decades.
Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change. Ethiopia
The report is part of a broader study, the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change (EACC), which has two objectives: (a) to develop a global estimate of adaptation costs for informing international climate negotiations; and (b) to help decision makers in developing countries assess the risks posed by climate change and design national strategies for adapting to it. This paper is one of a series of country-level studies, where national data were disaggregated to more local and sector levels, helping to understand adaptation from a bottom-up perspective. Ethiopia is heavily dependent on rainfed agriculture. Its geographical location and topography in combination with low adaptive capacity entail a high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Historically the country has been prone to extreme weather variability. Rainfall is highly erratic, most rain falls with high intensity, and there is a high degree of variability in both time and space. Since the early 1980s, the country has suffered seven major droughts five of which have led to famines in addition to dozens of local droughts. Major floods also occurred in different parts of the country in 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2006. Climate projections obtained from the GCMs referred to above suggest an increase in rainfall variability with a rising frequency of both severe flooding and droughts due to global warming.
Climate Risk and Financial Institutions. Challenges and Opportunities
This report demonstrates that climate change and its impacts are likely to alter a number of conditions that are material to the objectives of financial institutions. If changing conditions are not actively managed, investments and institutions may underperform. Most investments will be channeled through financial institutions. Given that the main effects of climate change are now well established, there is a considerable opportunity, as well as a responsibility, for these institutions to take a leading role in adaptation to climate change. Institutions managing investments in long-lived assets have both a direct financial risk to consider and the opportunity to create value by working proactively with their clients and other stakeholders to take steps to manage the risks. Going forward, International Finance Corporation (IFC) will initiate the development of more general tools addressing climate risks and investments.
ENABLING PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN CLIMATE ADAPTATION & RESILIENCE
This report identifies ways to overcome key barriers to private sector investment in adaptation and resilience, laying out a coordinated and data-driven Blueprint for Action to help governments and their development partners to close the adaptation finance gap. Although climate adaptation finance flows have increased by 35% in recent years, they still fall short of what is needed to avoid severe economic and human impacts from climate change. The urgent need for boosting investment in climate adaptation and resilience cannot be overstated. The blueprint provides five entry points to enable private investment. The Blueprint for action we propose in the report represents a novel coordinated framework for action for governments to develop, finance, and implement priority adaptation and resilience investments – driven by countries’ goals and national investment plans that can help accelerate and scale up investment to address the climate resilience needs of the world’s most climate-vulnerable communities and economies.