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.