Title:
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Adaptation to climate change in developing countries : policy responses to enhance resilience in El Salvador
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Effects of climate change on the welfare of human and natural systems in developing countries will
not be determined by the changes in climate alone; the sensitivity of these systems to the changes
will also determine how impacts are experienced. Human systems are characterised by their
adaptability, evidenced throughout human existence. However, climate change presents a new
challenge, not only because of the expected rise in temperature and sea-level, but also due to current
context of failure in addressing the causes of poverty adequately. As a result, policy supporting
adaptation has recently been cast as a necessary strategy for responding to climate change and
supporting development, making adaptation the focus of much scholarly and policy research.
This thesis addresses this new adaptation discourse, by bringing together examinations of adaptation
in theory, policy and practice. Thus, it traces adaptation within climate change and development
discourses and assesses empirical evidence of adaptation in El Salvador, in order to inform both
policy and theory. To this end, it explores the role of adaptation in the context of development, and
questions the meaning of policy-driven adaptation.
This work contributes a new interpretation of adaptation policy aimed at the UNFCCC negotiating
community. It suggests an adaptation paradigm for sustainable development processes, where the
objective is reduction of vulnerability and risk. This views adaptation as an existing and necessary
practice that should be facilitated by development processes, rather than as the ultimate objective of
explicit policies, which may not be incorporated into other planning and development processes.
This allows non-climatic causes of risk, such as those identified in El Salvador, to be addressed,
rather than circumvented. It requires a paradigm shift from the existing separation of discourses on
climate change adaptation from risk and disaster discourses, in order to confront the root causes of
vulnerability in an integrated and holistic manner. In turn, this will ensure sustainability of the
adaptation process.
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