Embracing Proactive Measures for Climate Change Adaptation: People's Understanding of Climate Change and Initiation of Adaptation Activities

Climate change is one of the crucial components in the interaction of physical, chemical, and biological processes of the Earth system. While climate change is unequivocally a global phenomenon, its impacts are local and disproportionate, mostly based on geographical fragility and temporal scales; and the vulnerability of individuals, groups, and communities. Rising temperature and changing precipitation patterns and their wide-ranging consequences have adversely impacted people’s livelihoods around the globe. So, climate change adaptation has become an inescapable option in addressing climate change impacts in minimizing vulnerability to growing and potential climate risks. Geographical diversity coupled with socio-economic disparity results in inconsistent impacts of climate change and thereby actual adaptation is variable, both locally and globally. Geographically at-risk, poor, and developing countries face the need for a wide range of adaptation measures in terms of timing and scale. However, designing and implementing appropriate climate change adaptation strategies has proven to be very challenging due to limited local-specific climate data, financial resources, inadequate infrastructure, and insufficient access to information and technology. As a result, the impacts of climate change are often felt more acutely in these countries and communities. In this backdrop, this thesis investigates how local people perceive climate change and its impacts; and explore the list of locally tailored activities (menu for adaptation) practiced by local households and communities, suggesting that policymakers and climate scientists emphasize bottom-up adaptive strategies for effective and efficient implementation. The climate change trends and variability using data from local meteorological records were analyzed and compared with local people’s perception. The empirical data and evidences were collected from more than 500 households representing three ecological regions of Nepal to analyze how people perceive and anticipate climate risks and implement locally doable adaptation measures proactively; and to investigate the determining factors in choosing proactive adaptation options. In addition, the thesis examines policies coherence and contradictions in addressing local practices. The study followed socio-cognitive processes for climate change risk appraisal and adaptation appraisal of individual to implement proactive adaptation measures against locally experienced impacts of climate change. Furthermore, the content analysis of major policies of Nepal including National Adaptation Program of Action, Local Adaptation Plan of Action, Community Level Adaptation Plan of Action, and Climate Policy 2019 have been performed to examine vertical coherence of policies and programs in addressing local people needs and their practical skillset to combat with climate change. The quantitative and qualitative data acquired from local meteorological stations and household surveys were analyzed. We analyzed temperature and precipitation patterns, including the Rainfall Anomaly Index (RAI) and the Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI). Proactive measures were evaluated based on essential criteria extracted from published literature and insights gathered from consulting experts. We employed the ordered logistic regression model to explain the explanatory power of essential socio-economic and demographic factors in influencing the choice of proactive adaptations. The results showed that, over the last three decades, temperature and precipitation trends and variability between regions varied, largely corroborating the local experiences. The temperature increased in Mountain, Mid–hills, and Low-land by 0.061⁰C yr-1, 0.063⁰C yr-1, and 0.017⁰C yr-1, respectively. In contrast, average annual rainfall decreased by -9.7 mm yr-1, -3.6 mm yr-1, and -0.04 mm yr-1 for the regions, respectively. Although the amount of rainfall decrease observed in the Mountain was the highest, its variability was found to be relatively low, and vice versa in Low-land. Approximately 88% of respondents perceived temperature rise, and 74% noticed rainfall decline. The local people linked these changes with their livelihood activities, as exemplified by, for example, crop’s quality and quantity or birds’ migration. The results indicate that local understandings complement the scarce observational data and provide a reliable and additional foundation to determine changes in climatic variables. The result also shows that small changes in climate variables have noticeable implications on human behavior change leading to implement local level adaptation measures. The study confirms that local people in Nepal are not only aware of escalating climate risks but also engage their cognition and knowledge proactively to adapt locally. The results show that 84% of households adapted both proactive and reactive measures, while 10.5% applied solely reactive adaptation and 5.6% were exclusively focused on proactive adaptation measures. Over 50 different proactive adaptation measures were implemented by the households. The measures were significantly associated with agricultural diversification, cash crop cultivation, livestock raising, small-scale enterprise development, and disaster control. Socio-economic and spatial factors such as a household’s wellbeing, land holding size, geographical location, livelihood options, and the number of adaptation measures implemented by the households were found to be decisive factors in choosing proactive adaptation. The results suggest that even small proactive initiatives by the households can offer multiple benefits against climate risks as an architect of individuals. However, the analysis of coherence and contradiction of different layers of policies and strategies show that this local knowledge and practices of community have been hardly acknowledged in the policy process due to some contradiction in focus and implementation mechanism. The framework for Local Adaptation Plan of Action considers the local governments as implementing units, while National Adaptation Program of Action puts an emphasis on the local community groups. Emphasizing the role of local government in planning and program implementation suggests that the current framework for implementing the Local Adaptation Plan of Action breaches the provisions intended for community-level institutions, as conceived in the national framework. Through the Community Level Adaptation Plan of Action, local communities have planned and implemented adaptation measures envisioned in the thematic areas identified in the climate change policy of Nepal: agriculture and food security; forests and biodiversity; water resources and energy; climate-induced disasters; public health; and urban settlements and infrastructure. Nevertheless, the Community Level Adaptation Plan of Action is not institutionalized under government policies as a local level implementing unit. So, the consensus for a local implementing unit in the policies has remained a key issue. We suggest the identification of a suitable and acceptable unit for implementing climate change adaptation at the community level. Only if an appropriate implementing units and appropriate measures are identified the policies can be successful with a broader acceptance and desirable outcomes enshrined in the climate change policies. Finally, local perceptions of climate change and the initiatives undertaken by the communities highlight the importance of incorporating local perspectives, knowledge, and expertise into broader policy frameworks for both climate change adaptation and mitigation. By acknowledging and integrating the insights gained from these grassroots’ efforts, policymakers and planners can develop robust and contextually tailored strategies to tackle climate change in a transdisciplinary approach to contribute climate goal of Paris Agreement which has been a centerpiece of global efforts to tackle climate change

Climate Change: Miserable Green House Gases

DOI: 10.3126/init.v2i1.2535  The Initiation Vol.2(1) 2008 pp136-137</jats:p

Conservation Policy Making in Nepal: Problematising the Politics of Civic Resistance

Protected area governance has witnessed a shift from a strict-nature conservation model towards a seemingly more participatory approach in Nepal. Despite some progress, top-down and non-deliberative processes characterise policy making in protected area. However, many civil society actors have increasingly challenged the government to provide space for local people in decision making so that their rights to natural resources are considered. This article examines two key aspects of the politics of policy process: why conservation policy making is often less deliberative than it could be and why civil actors pick up some policy decisions (not others) for contestation. In doing so, we analyse a recent policy decision of the Nepal government on the protected area which encountered civic contestation. Drawing on the review of policy decisions and interviews with government authorities, civic leaders and protected area experts, this paper shows that the government and large conservation organisations continue to shape the policy process while undermining the legitimate voices of local and non-state actors in the conservation policy landscape. Civic resistance as a means of democratising policy processes looks promising, challenging unquestioned authorities of the government and conservation organisations. Nevertheless, the politics of resistance has enjoyed limited success due to the political interests of civic institutions and their leaders, at times overshadowing critical policy agenda such as the severity of rights constrained and issues of poverty and marginalisation. This article suggests that civic actors need to rethink over their politics of resistance in terms of pursuing agenda and strategies to ramp up policy deliberation

Conservation Policy Making in Nepal: Problematising the Politics of Civic Resistance

Protected area governance has witnessed a shift from a strict-nature conservation model towards a seemingly more participatory approach in Nepal. Despite some progress, top-down and non-deliberative processes characterise policy making in protected area. However, many civil society actors have increasingly challenged the government to provide space for local people in decision making so that their rights to natural resources are considered. This article examines two key aspects of the politics of policy process: why conservation policy making is often less deliberative than it could be and why civil actors pick up some policy decisions (not others) for contestation. In doing so, we analyse a recent policy decision of the Nepal government on the protected area which encountered civic contestation. Drawing on the review of policy decisions and interviews with government authorities, civic leaders and protected area experts, this paper shows that the government and large conservation organisations continue to shape the policy process while undermining the legitimate voices of local and non-state actors in the conservation policy landscape. Civic resistance as a means of democratising policy processes looks promising, challenging unquestioned authorities of the government and conservation organisations. Nevertheless, the politics of resistance has enjoyed limited success due to the political interests of civic institutions and their leaders, at times overshadowing critical policy agenda such as the severity of rights constrained and issues of poverty and marginalisation. This article suggests that civic actors need to rethink over their politics of resistance in terms of pursuing agenda and strategies to ramp up policy deliberation

Do Local Perceptions of Climate Variability and Changes Correspond to Observed Climate Changes? A Comparative Study from Nepal as One of the Most Climate-Vulnerable Countries

Abstract This study explored people’s perceptions of climate change by conducting interviews and focus-group discussions with local residents of three ecological regions of Nepal, i.e., mountain, midhills, and lowland. Climatic measurements from meteorological stations of the regions were acquired for the period from 1988 to 2018. We compared the people’s perception with trends and variabilities of observed temperature and rainfall patterns. The results showed that, over the last three decades, temperature and precipitation trends and variability between regions varied, largely corroborating the local experiences. The temperature increased in mountain, midhills, and lowland by 0.061°, 0.063°, and 0.017°C yr−1, respectively. In contrast, rainfall decreased by −9.7, −3.6, and −0.04 mm yr−1 for the regions, respectively. Although the amount of rainfall decrease observed in the mountain was highest, its variability was found to be relatively low, and vice versa in lowland. Approximately 88% of interviewees perceived temperature rise, and 74% noticed rainfall decline. Local residents linked these changes with their livelihood activities, as exemplified by, for example, crop’s quality and quantity and birds’ migration. The results indicate that local understandings complement the scarce observational data and provide a reliable and additional foundation to determine changes in climatic variables. Moreover, the result infers that small changes in climate variables have noticeable implications on human behavior change. Therefore, besides active participation of local communities, integrating local understanding is crucial in developing climate change–related policies and strategies at local and national levels.</jats:p

Proactive Adaptation Responses by Vulnerable Communities to Climate Change Impacts

We explored the proactive responses of local communities against locally experienced climate change impacts and anticipated threats. This study interviewed 124 rural households from three community forestry user groups representing three ecological regions of Nepal using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study used eight criteria to distinguish the proactive nature of adaptation. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze data, including the use of a chi-square (&chi;2) test to determine the proactive measures and their association with livelihood options and the ordered logistic regression model to explain determining factors of choosing proactive adaptations. The results indicate that 83.9% of households adapted both proactive and reactive measures, while 10.5% applied solely reactive adaptation and 5.6% were earmarked only for proactive adaptation measures. Over 50 different proactive adaptation measures were implemented by the households. The measures were significantly associated with agricultural diversification, cash crop cultivation, livestock raising, small-scale enterprise development, and disaster control. Socio-economic and spatial factors such as a household&rsquo;s wellbeing, land holding size, geographical location, livelihood options, and the number of adaptation measures implemented by households were found to be decisive factors in choosing proactive adaptation. The study concludes that local people in Nepal are not only aware of escalating climate risks but also engage their cognition and knowledge proactively to adapt locally. The results suggest that even small proactive initiatives by households can offer multiple benefits against climate risks as an architect of individuals. Therefore, adopting a trans-disciplinary approach and nurturing local proactive actions in strategic connectivity between environmental, political, and societal functions is pivotal, which primarily takes a step to drive expediently successful climate change policy and strategy implementation. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into policy and strategy planning for the unsolicited consequences of climate change and highlight the importance of understanding the perspective of local communities in adaptation planning and implementation

Do National Policies Translate into Local Actions? Analyzing Coherence between Climate Change Adaptation Policies and Implications for Local Adaptation in Nepal

National climate change policy and strategies set out a framework for planning and undertaking climate change adaptation as well as mitigation activities at the national and local levels. In this article, we examine the coherence and contradictions between national policies and plans, and its impacts on the implementation of adaptation measures at the local level. We undertook a content review of key climate change policy documents (n = 4) of Nepal. In addition, we conducted a field study in the Rajdevi Community Forest User Group (CFUG) located in the mid-hills of Nepal, which has developed and implemented a community level adaptation plan of action (CAPA). The field study involved household interviews, focus group discussions, and an in-depth analysis of CAPA implementation. The paper found that while policies are coherent for targeting highly affected areas and communities, they deviate from discerning an appropriate planning and implanting unit. The local adaptation plan of action (LAPA) considers the local government as an implementing unit, while the national adaptation program of action (NAPA) puts an emphasis on the local community groups. It suggests that the existing LAPA implementation breaches the provision of community-level institutions for the implementation conceived in the central framework. Despite little attention to promoting food security in climate change policy, through the CAPA, local communities have planned and implemented adaptation measures envisioned in the thematic areas identified in the climate change policy of Nepal: agriculture and food security; forests and biodiversity; water resources and energy; climate-induced disasters; public health; and urban settlements and infrastructure. Nevertheless, the CAPA is not institutionalized under government policies and the institutional framework as a local level implementing unit. So, the consensus for a local implementing unit in the policies has remained a key issue. We suggest identifying a suitable and acceptable unit for implementing climate change adaptation at the community level. Only if an appropriate implementing unit is identified can the policies be successful with a broader acceptance and desirable outcomes enshrined in the climate change policy