Climate Change & Resilience

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of the extreme weather and climate events that are affecting all communities. However, because of their geographical location, reliance on climate-sensitive natural resources and development gaps in general, poorest communities in particular are at the greatest risk of climate hazards. Left unattended, climate hazards are likely to increase poverty, worsen inequalities, exacerbate food insecurity and cause health problems, among other hardships, which may reverse years of development progress in country.

Climate hazards also have differential impacts on people and communities. These impacts are largely determined by deep-rooted socioeconomic inequalities. As a result, they tend to be particularly detrimental to the most disadvantaged groups of society, which are hence disproportionately exposed and vulnerable to climate hazards.

Our Climate change and resilience program provides a unique opportunity to build climate change adaption and mitigation for sustainable development by addressing the structural inequalities that perpetuate poverty, marginalization and social exclusion and thus increase vulnerability to climate hazards. We work to strengthen social protection and adaptation strategies for a broader development framework which incrementally leads the way to the empowerment of disadvantaged groups, by improving their asset positions and access to input and product markets; by extending their access to quality basic services; and by changing the norms that foster their social and political exclusion.