Expert views of climate change adaptation in least developed Asia

Drawing primarily from original data collected from more than 100 semi-structured research interviews, this study discusses the benefits of four climate change adaptation projects being implemented in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, and the Maldives. The article begins by explaining its research methods and selecting a sample of Global Environment Facility-Least Developed Country Fund projects being implemented in Asia to analyze. It then describes ongoing adaptation efforts in each of these four countries. It finds that projects enhance infrastructural resilience by building relevant, robust, and flexible technologies. They build institutional resilience by creating strong, permanent, legitimate organizations in place to respond to climate change issues. They promote community resilience by enhancing local ownership, building capacity, and creating networks that help ordinary people learn and adapt to climate change. We find that all four of our case studies couple adaptive improvements in technology and infrastructure with those in governance and community welfare, underscoring the holistic or systemic aspect of resilience. Our study also demonstrates the salience of a functions-based approach to resilience and adaptive capacity rather than an asset-based one.

► Asian adaptation projects build institutional resilience by strengthening capacity.
► They enhance infrastructural resilience by building relevant, robust, and flexible technologies.
► They promote community resilience by enhancing local ownership and knowledge about adaptation.