Climate Change and Water
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Climate Change and Water Final Prospectus Report June 2014 This report was prepared by the International Development Research Centre’s Climate Change and Water program (2010-2015) as part of the program’s external evaluation. This document has been modified from the original version (links to internal documents have been removed). Table of contents List of Annexes ....................................................................................................................... i List of acronyms .................................................................................................................... ii Executive summary .............................................................................................................. iv Section 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 Background: Climate Change and Water .................................................................................................. 1 Program strategy and logic ....................................................................................................................... 1 Evolution of the program .......................................................................................................................... 4 Communicating research .......................................................................................................................... 6 Section 2: CCW Program outcomes ........................................................................................ 8 Outcome area 1: Support for research...................................................................................................... 8 Story 1: CCW research has helped to build adaptive capacity at the local level ...................................... 9 Outcome area 2: Capacity building ......................................................................................................... 14 Story 2: Our support has led to improved capacity of researchers to select and refine appropriate methods for adaptation research ........................................................................................................... 15 Story 3: Through our insistence on interdisciplinarity, many grantees are better at applied and relevant research .................................................................................................................................... 19 Outcome area 3: Informing policy .......................................................................................................... 21 Story 4: Our program has helped meet the demand for practical solutions .......................................... 22 Story 5: By insisting on stakeholder engagement, we have achieved more success in the uptake of solutions .................................................................................................................................................. 24 Section 3: Lessons and conclusions ...................................................................................... 27 Program impacts ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Lessons learned ....................................................................................................................................... 28 Future directions ..................................................................................................................................... 30 References .......................................................................................................................... 33 List of Annexes 1. CCW Prospectus 2. Theory of Change 3. CCW Program timeline 4. CCW graduated outcome areas 5. CCW thematic areas 6. Snapshot on capacity building 7. CCW synthesis activities 8. Conferences and workshops supported by CCW 9. Awards recipients and special recognition 10. Notable grantee contributions to policy reports 11. List of research projects with links to detailed project information 12. Bibliography of peer-reviewed publications List of acronyms ACCFP – Africa Climate Change Fellowship Program ALF – Annual Learning Forum ATREE – Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment ARCA – Alexandria Research Centre for Adaptation ARC3-2 – Third Assessment Report on Cities and Climate Change AS – Agua Sustentable A&E – Agriculture and Environment CATHALAC – Centro del Agua del Trópico Húmedo para America Latina y el Caribe (Water Centre for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean) CCAA – Climate Change Adaptation in Africa program CCAP – Chinese Center for Agricultural Policy CCW – Climate Change and Water program CDA – Chilika Development Authority CoCoon – Conflict and Cooperation over Natural Resources in Developing Countries program COP 19 – 19th Convention of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) CSAG-UCT – Climate System Analysis Group at the University of Cape Town DANIDA – Danish International Development Agency DFATD – Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development (Canada) DfID – Department for International Development (UK) DRR – Disaster Risk Reduction FANRPAN – Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network GIS – Geographic Information System GOC – Government of Canada IAI – Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability ICTs – Information and Communication Technologies ICTWCC – Information and Communication Technologies for Water and Climate Change IDRC – International Development Research Centre IGP – Instituto Geofísico del Perú IIED – International Institute for Environment and Development IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ISET-Nepal – Institute for Social and Environmental Transition in Nepal ISET-Pakistan – Institute for Social and Environmental Transition in Pakistan IWMI – International Water Management Institute LAC – Latin America and Caribbean LACEEP – Latin American and Caribbean Environmental Economics Program LEAP – Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System MOU – Memorandum of Understanding MP – Member of Parliament MSc – Master of Science NISTPASS – National Institute for Science and Technology Policy and Strategy Studies NGOs – Non-Governmental Organizations NDF – Nordic Development Fund NRCan – Natural Resources Canada ii OA1 – Outcome Area 1 OA2 – Outcome Area 2 OA3 – Outcome Area 3 OXFAM – Oxford Committee for Famine Relief PCRs – Project Completion Reports PMRs – Project Monitoring Reports PO – Project Officer RPE – Rural Poverty and Environment program SaciWATERs – South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies SEI – Stockholm Environment Institute SLR – sea level rise SPDC – Social Policy and Development Centre TTI – Think Tank Initiative TRs – Trip Reports UN – United Nations UCCRN – Urban Climate Change Research Network UCT – University of Cape Town UNAM – Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico) UPE – Urban Poverty and Environment program UWI – University of West Indies WAS – Women’s Safety Audit WEAP – Water Evaluation and Planning System WHO – World Health Organization WI – Wetlands International iii Executive summary Climate change is a pressing threat to sustainable development, affecting water availability, food security, and livelihoods for millions of vulnerable people around the world. IDRC’s Climate Change and Water (CCW) program (2010-2015) set out to help the world’s most vulnerable people adapt to the water-related impacts of climate change by supporting research that improves both adaptation policy and practice. At the time that this report was submitted, the program’s portfolio included 121 projects (research projects, research support projects, and awards projects) across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, for a combined value of $75.3 million. Recognizing that climate change adaptation is a new concept, the program focused on three outcome areas: knowledge generation, capacity building and leadership, and informing climate change policy. Knowledge generation The CCW program helped to support original research in three key areas: vulnerability and risk analysis, identifying and testing adaptation options, and shedding light on what adaptive capacity means. Programming was clustered into different categories to facilitate networking across projects. For instance, there is a cluster of work on climate change impacts in mountain ecosystems (Andes and the Himalayas), small-island states, as well as in cities and city-regions. Over 90 peer-reviewed papers have been published to date from CCW projects, representing an important contribution to the state of science on adaptation. Research projects supported by CCW have helped to inform both planned and autonomous (i.e. measures practiced by people in response to threats) adaptation strategies at the local level, by testing solutions that improve water availability and minimize risk from the water-related impacts of climate change. Many grantees categorized adaptation as either “hard” infrastructure-oriented options (e.g. a sea walls or drainage systems) or “soft” options (e.g. improved governance or stakeholder engagement). A compendium of over 100 adaptation options identified and tested through CCW-funded research is due for completion in 2015, with the goal of facilitating their use by practitioners. These