Determining technologies for climate change adaptation

Sectors and Themes
Infrastructure and Industry
Water
Scale
National
Sub-national
Project-Level
Expertise Level
Practitioner
Specialist
Resource Type
Guidance and Frameworks
Language
English
Developer or Source
UNEP DTU

Identifying, assessing and evaluating technologies for climate change adaptation is a complex, dynamic process that cuts across scales, sectors, and levels of intervention. Adaptation itself is characterized by many uncertainties, and it extends long past usual project cycles.

Technology development and transfer is an area of increasing priority on the international agenda on adaptation to climate change. Methodological and operational aspects of technologies in the area of adaptation to climate change are relatively underdeveloped with a number of prevailing challenges, including (a) defining and operationalizing the concept of technologies for adaptation much clearer; (b) developing the methodologies for how to assess and prioritize technologies for adaptation further and (c) ensuring that the relevant available information and knowledge is fully utilized and integrated in the processes.

In the transfer of adaptation technologies, it is imperative to ensure that they address the underlying stressors to vulnerability to climate change stressors (like access to basic resources such as water, infrastructure and public facilities) and that they are suited to local conditions. If one ignores such issues, the technologies may be ineffective, and may prove maladaptive if implemented without recognition of relevant social contexts and environmental processes. Therefore, it is vital to identify and assess technologies against appropriate criteria when prioritizing technologies.

The objective of this guidance is to guide consultants, decision makers and technical experts on how to facilitate discussions for prioritizing adaptation technologies, and to support the stakeholders in identifying appropriate criteria for this analysis.

Find more resources

More Tools By This Developer (19)

Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT), UNEP DTU

International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), UNEP DTU

Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNEP DTU, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

UNEP DTU

UNEP DTU, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT), UNEP DTU, World Resources Institute (WRI)

Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNEP DTU

European Capacity Building Initiative, UNEP DTU

Global Environment Facility (GEF), Global Support Programme (GSP), UNEP DTU, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

UNEP DTU, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)