This post is written by Ukaegbu Sandra C, Senior Scientific Officer in the Department of Climate Change at the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria.

  • The problem: Cities need to begin adapting to climate risks today, and ensure that new investments are suited to the region’s future climate.
  • Why it matters: Climate risk affects every city differently and a tailored strategy needs to be implemented.
  • The solution: An adaptation strategy to strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to the effects of climate change.

Climate change is on the front burner of global discussions today as leaders seek solutions to its impacts which can be seen all around us. Its effects include increased atmospheric temperature, irregular rainfall patterns, melting of the glacial ice leading to sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, deaths and illness, increased economic costs as a result of more frequent and severe heatwaves, flooding, drought and storms. The link between greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is unequivocal. This means that cities need to begin adapting to climate risks today, and ensure that new investments are suitable for the city’s future climate.

The benefits of adaptation

Adaptation has immediate benefits and a clear economic case: it helps to unlock economic potential by encouraging investment and also delivers near-term health, societal and economic benefits. Adaptation needs to be a core part of climate action planning.

Cities need comprehensive, city-wide and multi-hazard adaptation strategies based on an assessment of their climate risk.

Climate risk affects every city differently depending on its geography, and socio-economic and demographic context.

An adaptation strategy can take the form of a standalone (but linked) strategy, or it can be a component of a climate action plan or a comprehensive city plan. Cities that do not consider their climate risk in a wider plan can increase their vulnerability to climate change. These risks need to be integrated into sectoral and urban planning.

Adaptation policies: examples from Nigeria

The goal of adaptation policies is to strengthen resilience to reduce vulnerability and contribute to sustainable development. This includes:

  1. A climate change policy and response strategy with the strategic goal of fostering a low-carbon, high-growth economic development path and building a climate-resilient society. This policy includes objectives related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, climate science and technology, private sector participation and strengthening national institutions and mechanisms.

  2. Nigeria has put in place the National Adaptation Strategy & Plan of Action (NASPA), this strategy is an integrated component of sustainable development, reducing the vulnerability and enhancing the resilience and adaptive capacity of all economic sectors and all people–particularly women, children and resource-poor men–to the adverse impacts of climate change, while also capturing needs that arise as a result of climate change.

  3. The National Adaptation Plan (NAP) framework for Nigeria is another policy that aims to facilitate the management of the country’s medium and long-term adaptation needs in a coherent and coordinated manner. Its purpose is to guide the government and lawmakers in developing, coordinating and implementing the various policies, plans, strategies and legislation that will enable the nation to address its adaptation needs. These include:

  4. Clarifing Nigeria’s approach to the NAP process.

  5. Aligning the NAP process with existing policies (eg. Economic Recovery & Growth Plan [ERGP], NASPA, National Climate Change Policy Response and Strategy [NCCP-RS]), strategies and adaptation research.

  6. Focusing on specific themes that are particularly relevant and/or unique to the country’s context.

Climate change affects every aspect and sector of our socio-economic development and is cross-sectional in nature.

How governments can advance adaptation policies

Governments can advance adaptation policies by mainstreaming adaptation into development planning. This is a way to demonstrate the capacity that vulnerable communities will have in finding solutions and providing alternatives for their people. Planning and implementation of adaptation measures must be integrated into existing development plans and processes.

  • Adaptation strategies in agriculture, for example, have to be defined taking into account the difference between agribusiness and family farmers. Relationships between agriculture adaptation and other policies related to water, forests and food sovereignty cannot be ignored.
  • Mainstreaming ecosystem-based adaptation; governments must protect and restore key ecosystems. That is the use of ecosystem services to adapt to climate change and its mainstreaming into municipal planning to foster sustainable transformation. This aspect is receiving increasing interest from both academic and governmental bodies.
  • The need for governments to promote green energy.
  • Mainstreaming climate adaptation into urban planning, overcoming barriers, seizing opportunities and evaluating results. [Climate adaptation]((https://apolitical.co/solution-articles/en/coronavirus-makes-investing-in-climate-adaptation-more-urgent-than-ever) is necessary to reduce risks such as heat stress and flooding and maintain the goals of sustainable urban development. Mainstreaming climate adaptation can stimulate the effectiveness of policymaking through combining objectives, increasing efficient use of human and financial resources and ensuring long-term sustainable investments. A better understanding of the process of mainstreaming is lacking, however.
  • Prioritise according to needs, implement across sectors and monitor progress. Governments must not only prioritise actions to make them compatible with available resources and capacity; they must also establish a robust institutional and legal framework and consistent system to monitor progress.
  • Governments should build a resilient foundation with rapid and inclusive development.
  • Combat short-lived climate pollutants.
  • Governments can make a difference by supporting small local producers who employ sustainable practices (unlike large companies), care about land restoration, benefit nearby communities and make animals/crops more resilient to climate change.

Adaptation not just mitigation

The focus should be on adaptation, not just mitigation. Projects to mitigate emissions are more attractive financially than those designed for adaptation, which is generally focused on the most vulnerable communities.

Climate change affects every aspect and sector of our socio-economic development and is cross-sectional in nature.

It transcends the traditional focus on environmental issues because it affects overall well-being and economic growth.

Mitigation and adaptation measures are the solution, but it is important to give adaptation the significance it deserves in recognition of the fact that the impacts of climate change are already a grave reality for many.

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