The expression ‘bad adaptation’ appears 360 times in the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It appears on average once every 10 pages in this monumental document, published in early April.
“We have spent two decades investing in adaptation projects [al cambio climático] and now we see that many of these projects do not work or even worsen the situation & rdquor ;, he affirms Lisa Schipperresearcher at the University of Oxford and reference expert in the subject.
“We still don’t know the magnitude of the problem. But many negative cases raise a big question about adaptation & rdquor ;, he says Ed Carrresearcher in international development at the University of Cork and co-author of the sixth IPCC report.
A bad adaptation tries to alleviate certain effects of climate change, but ends up generating another vulnerability, or displacing the problem to another site or human group.
Showcase of failures
• flood walls
Two walls against the rise in sea level (‘seawalls’) they were built on the island of Vanua Levu (Fiji Islands). However, those barriers also prevented rainwater from draining into the ocean, causing another form of flooding. In the island state of Kiribati (Oceania), a structure intended to protect one settlement it shifted erosion to the next settlement on the coastline. In Bangladesh containment dams have been built around the Jamuna river. The 2017 floods caused more mortality where there were dikes than where there weren’t. “People felt protected and built behind the dams, which were eventually breached & rdquor ;, explains Schipper.
• Irrigation against drought
Given the increase in droughts, irrigation projects have multiplied. However, as the climate gets drier, aquifers stop being replenished and irrigation systems they salinize. “Irrigation hooks people into agriculture that is no longer sustainable and prevents them from looking for alternatives,” observes Schipper.
• Carbon sequestration to the brave
Offsetting emissions by planting trees is in fashion. In Cambodiaa compensation project eliminated a native forest to replace it with acacias, with a high carbon sequestration capacity. The duck was paid for by the residents, who used that forest to get food and resources that the acacias no longer give them.
question of justice
Adaptation projects affect various communities, ethnicities, social classes, age groups, genders, etc. differently. Some dams to regulate the floods in some valleys of Vietnam harmed to the groups that lived in the mountains. An agricultural modernization project in Sao Tome and Principe benefit those who already had land, leaving those who did not have it in a state of vulnerability. Projects to provide farmers with better weather forecasts often give that information to men, increasing their power over women.
Also a first world problem
Maladaptation also occurs in rich countries, even though they have more room to pay their bill. The creation of Navarra irrigation canal drove many small farmers who couldn’t afford to connect with that technology out of farming, according to a study from Amaia Albizua, researcher at the University of the Basque Country and the Basque Center on Climate Change (BC3). In addition, she encouraged the replacement of a variety of crops with maize, a production even more dependent on water.
How to adapt well?
There is no manual for good adaptation, but there are some mistakes to avoid, according to the experts consulted:
• canned solutions
It is not wise to export “success stories” from one site to another. promoted by agencies and NGOs. You have to understand the local reality, starting with a question: how are people adapting to this place?
• Solution for some, problem for others
Social groups suffer climate change differently. An equal solution for everyone will benefit more those who are already well and will harm more those who are already ill.
• Solutions that cause problems
An adaptation must work in the long term. If it is a patch or a defensive reaction, it is not good, because it alleviates a problem immediately but generates others. That would be like fighting global warming with more air conditioners, which generate more emissions and more heating.
Related news
• Beware of infrastructure
Dams, canals and pipes cost a lot and anchor society to a certain solution for many years. Better to think well before building them and explore natural solutions first – for example, the use of vegetation against flooding.