A Changing Environment for Human Security

11  National level policies versus local level realities – can the two be reconciled to promote sustainable adaptation?

Katharine Vincent, Lars Otto Naess and Marisa Goulden

Introduction

Climate change poses multiple threats to economic growth, poverty reduction, food security and, crucially, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in developing countries (Agrawala, 2005; DFID; 2006, Parry et al., 2007a; Stern, 2007). The need for adaptation to reduce the potential adverse impacts of climate change is now widely recognized. At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence pointing to the range of adaptation strategies to climate impacts being employed by households and communities. However, there is so far little evidence of ...