In Burkina Faso, nonfarm activities are thought to help poor households buffer for agricultural r... more In Burkina Faso, nonfarm activities are thought to help poor households buffer for agricultural risks related to climate variability by providing them with cash to buy food in case of local harvest shortfalls. In a time when climate change is expected to have considerable impact on the West-African Sahel, governments here have an incentive to stimulate national nonfarm economies. This incentive is very tangible in contemporary Burkina Faso, where a large proportion of the population has to buy their staple foods but where during the 1990s and the early 2000s, fourteen percent of the population suffered from permanent undernourishment; in 2006 still 9 percent did. Most of the affected population lives in rural areas and development of the rural nonfarm economy has been one of the main pillars under Burkina Faso’s successive National Poverty Reduction Strategies. Much less attention is paid to poverty in urban areas, even though the country is experiencing one of the highest natural u...
Centralized state governance systems have been criticized for being ineffective and inefficient i... more Centralized state governance systems have been criticized for being ineffective and inefficient in tackling complex climate change challenges. Consequently, governance models that integrate collaboration among diverse stakeholders are seen as crucial in increasing adaptation efforts around the world. However, at present, there is little insight into the mechanics of collaborative adaptation governance (CAG) at the local, regional, national or global levels. Drawing on collaborative governance theory and literature on climate change adaptation, we use multiple qualitative research methods to identify and explore CAG in Northern Ghana. We examine the conceptualization and implementation of CAG projects as well as the motivation behind them and their ensuing benefits. Results show that perceived climatic changes, diminishing agricultural livelihoods, adaptation resource needs and opportunities largely drive CAG. Local state actors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide leade...
ABSTRACT Given limited scientific agreement on approaches and methodologies, estimates of climate... more ABSTRACT Given limited scientific agreement on approaches and methodologies, estimates of climate-change adaptation costs vary widely. Here, we present a meta-analysis of aggregate adaptation costs in developing countries, across three roughly homogeneous groups of estimates, i.e. national plan-based, bottom-up science-based, and global top-down estimates. We show that the level of global warming, a country's economic status, and methodology applied, are the main determinants for the estimated costs of adaptation. Not surprisingly, adaptation costs are much higher at high levels of global warming by 2050 and 2100, diverging from low levels of warming from the 2030s. Consequently, strong global mitigation action could reduce the adaptation costs by three quarters by 2100. Next, adaptation costs are higher for high-income countries in absolute dollar value, but costs are higher relative to gross domestic product for low-income countries. The integrated assessment model based estimates are at the higher end of the range at the global scale, but the estimates based on the sectoral impacts aggregation approach are higher in case of bottom-up estimates. Regardless of the methodology applied, current climate finance pledges of USD100 billion by 2020 - for both mitigation and adaptation - would fall far short of estimated global adaptation costs.
Differentiating the impacts of climate change between 1.5°C and 2°C requires a regional and secto... more Differentiating the impacts of climate change between 1.5°C and 2°C requires a regional and sector-specific perspective. Whereas for some regions and sectors the difference in climate variables might be indistinguishable from natural variability, other areas especially in the tropics and subtropics will experience significant shifts. In addition to region-specific changes in climatic conditions, vulnerability and exposure also differ substantially across the world. Even small differences in climate hazards can translate into sizeable impact differences for particularly vulnerable regions or sectors. Here, we review scientific evidence of regional differences in climate hazards at 1.5°C and 2°C and provide an assessment of selected hotspots of climate change, including small islands as well as rural, urban, and coastal areas in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, that are particularly affected by the additional 0.5°C global mean temperature increase. We interlink these with a review o...
In Burkina Faso, nonfarm activities are thought to help poor households buffer for agricultural r... more In Burkina Faso, nonfarm activities are thought to help poor households buffer for agricultural risks related to climate variability by providing them with cash to buy food in case of local harvest shortfalls. In a time when climate change is expected to have considerable impact on the West-African Sahel, governments here have an incentive to stimulate national nonfarm economies. This incentive is very tangible in contemporary Burkina Faso, where a large proportion of the population has to buy their staple foods but where during the 1990s and the early 2000s, fourteen percent of the population suffered from permanent undernourishment; in 2006 still 9 percent did. Most of the affected population lives in rural areas and development of the rural nonfarm economy has been one of the main pillars under Burkina Faso’s successive National Poverty Reduction Strategies. Much less attention is paid to poverty in urban areas, even though the country is experiencing one of the highest natural u...
Centralized state governance systems have been criticized for being ineffective and inefficient i... more Centralized state governance systems have been criticized for being ineffective and inefficient in tackling complex climate change challenges. Consequently, governance models that integrate collaboration among diverse stakeholders are seen as crucial in increasing adaptation efforts around the world. However, at present, there is little insight into the mechanics of collaborative adaptation governance (CAG) at the local, regional, national or global levels. Drawing on collaborative governance theory and literature on climate change adaptation, we use multiple qualitative research methods to identify and explore CAG in Northern Ghana. We examine the conceptualization and implementation of CAG projects as well as the motivation behind them and their ensuing benefits. Results show that perceived climatic changes, diminishing agricultural livelihoods, adaptation resource needs and opportunities largely drive CAG. Local state actors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide leade...
ABSTRACT Given limited scientific agreement on approaches and methodologies, estimates of climate... more ABSTRACT Given limited scientific agreement on approaches and methodologies, estimates of climate-change adaptation costs vary widely. Here, we present a meta-analysis of aggregate adaptation costs in developing countries, across three roughly homogeneous groups of estimates, i.e. national plan-based, bottom-up science-based, and global top-down estimates. We show that the level of global warming, a country's economic status, and methodology applied, are the main determinants for the estimated costs of adaptation. Not surprisingly, adaptation costs are much higher at high levels of global warming by 2050 and 2100, diverging from low levels of warming from the 2030s. Consequently, strong global mitigation action could reduce the adaptation costs by three quarters by 2100. Next, adaptation costs are higher for high-income countries in absolute dollar value, but costs are higher relative to gross domestic product for low-income countries. The integrated assessment model based estimates are at the higher end of the range at the global scale, but the estimates based on the sectoral impacts aggregation approach are higher in case of bottom-up estimates. Regardless of the methodology applied, current climate finance pledges of USD100 billion by 2020 - for both mitigation and adaptation - would fall far short of estimated global adaptation costs.
Differentiating the impacts of climate change between 1.5°C and 2°C requires a regional and secto... more Differentiating the impacts of climate change between 1.5°C and 2°C requires a regional and sector-specific perspective. Whereas for some regions and sectors the difference in climate variables might be indistinguishable from natural variability, other areas especially in the tropics and subtropics will experience significant shifts. In addition to region-specific changes in climatic conditions, vulnerability and exposure also differ substantially across the world. Even small differences in climate hazards can translate into sizeable impact differences for particularly vulnerable regions or sectors. Here, we review scientific evidence of regional differences in climate hazards at 1.5°C and 2°C and provide an assessment of selected hotspots of climate change, including small islands as well as rural, urban, and coastal areas in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, that are particularly affected by the additional 0.5°C global mean temperature increase. We interlink these with a review o...
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Papers by Sarah D'Haen