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9 Developing a Basic Implementation Plan and a Communication Strategy Module

9.1 Implementing adaptation responses

Adaptation options are interwoven with other development decisions and choices involving a number
of stakeholders and sectors. Further, in order to promote resilience, the focus of adaptation actions
should also address capacity development and create policies that enable adaptation in the future.
There is a growing list of adaptation actions for diversity of climate change and for various socio-
economic conditions.

Adaptation options include activities that are new and untested, but most of the activities are well- Abu Dhabi, UAE
known to the communities. Local community members should be seen as having valuable knowledge
about climate change impacts and adaptation, even if the options are not explicitly recognized as
helping to reduce vulnerability to climate change. Building on this familiarity helps to empower local
communities and helps decision-makers develop relevant responses to climate change.

Linking different levels of governance when implementing adaptation
BOX 16
responses

To understand adaptation decision-making, one must differentiate between decision-making
at and for local levels, as both cases involve different scales and actors. Thus, adaptation at the
local level is strongly related to the other levels of decision-making. The efforts to integrate

adaptation into development processes at the regional, national, sectoral and project levels
should ideally create a set of conditions, plans and incentives that allow sub-national actors to
understand the changing risks they face and take actions to reduce their vulnerability to these
risks (top-down). At the same time, however, many of these conditions, plans and incentives
should be devised with participation and inputs from sub-national actors themselves, in
order to ensure their uptake, sustainability, inclusiveness and overall success (bottom-up).
Local actors should therefore both benefit from and shape adaptation decision-making at

other levels in order to ensure successful adaptation responses. Lessons and experiences
with adaptation at the local level must feed into higher levels of decision-making to make
sure that local strategies remain relevant and appropriate, and provide a basis for transferring
knowledge to other sectors and communities.

Source: OECD, 2009

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