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Status of Climate Change Adaptation in Asia and the Pacific pp 125–152Cite as

Status of Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia Region

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Abstract

Climate change is predicted to have major consequences for South Asia. The South Asian region represents the most diverse ecosystems, topographies and climate regimes in the world. Incidences of droughts, floods, heat waves and cyclones have grown both in terms of intensity and frequency, impacting the lives and livelihoods of the most impoverished and vulnerable people of South Asia. The regional countries and respective governments have all exhibited high level of political will and urgency to tackle climate change by means of adaptation, while committing to contribute towards achieving global mitigation goal if they receive adequate international supports in terms of finance, technology transfer and capacity building. Though several climate change adaptation (CCA) efforts are in place at the national and subnational levels in South Asia, they have so far been fragmented and incoherent lacking a perspective that integrates technological, institutional, financial, capacity, information and policy needs. Focusing on key countries of the region, this review captures the trends, strategies and critical barriers in advancing the CCA agenda. It argues for a regional vision and underscores the importance of cross-sectoral coordination, stakeholder integration, democratic decision-making, building synergies with local government institutions and enhanced capacities to tap financial resources from bilateral and multilateral funding agencies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For the present study, only seven countries out of a possible eight have been considered to delineate the South Asia region. Due to paucity of data as per the analytical requirement, Afghanistan had to be left out of the analysis. Afghanistan is very much part of South Asia and also a member of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Global Change, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Ahsan Uddin Ahmed

  2. Climate Resilience Practice, World Resources Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Arivudai Nambi Appadurai

  3. Economics Department, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Sharmind Neelormi

Authors
  1. Ahsan Uddin Ahmed
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  2. Arivudai Nambi Appadurai
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  3. Sharmind Neelormi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. United Nations Environment Programme, Bangkok, Thailand

    Mozaharul Alam

  2. KACCC at Korean Environment Institute, Sejong, Korea (Republic of)

    Jeongho Lee

  3. Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN), Bangkok, Thailand

    Puja Sawhney

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Ahmed, A.U., Appadurai, A.N., Neelormi, S. (2019). Status of Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia Region. In: Alam, M., Lee, J., Sawhney, P. (eds) Status of Climate Change Adaptation in Asia and the Pacific. Springer Climate. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99347-8_7

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