Political Dimensions of Climate Change Adaptation - New Master Thesis Available

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Abstract

The interest towards climate change adaptation has gradually increased from local to international levels around the globe. This is one reason that there is less than the due attention paid previously, on its implementation, besides relatively lower levels of funding available for the adaptation related activities. To elaborate on the tricky relationship between adaptation funding and policy priorities in the global South, this thesis focuses on the case of Pakistan. Pakistan is one of the most climate changes prone countries with several events of climate change related disasters taking place on an annual basis. However, there is an extremely weak mechanism of climate change adaptation that could help the vulnerable communities to resist the disaster impacts. The respective study findings suggest that the primary cause of this issue is the lack of an effective climate change policy. The existing National Climate Change Policy of Pakistan (NCCP), is not a living document at this point, that can address the climate change adaptation issues. The existing policy was not only drafted by the funding agencies themselves, who enabled the formulation of the policy, but it was also proposed before the 18th constitutional amendment in the country, which produced significant changes. Since the 18th amendment (2010), the implementation of the adaptation policy has been affected due to the change in administrative power and authority levels, from national to provincial. Another important aspect which is associated with the adaptation of climate change is the politics behind the funding that may enter the country from international sources. The national policy does not provide any comprehensive guideline for the funding agencies regarding the adaptation priorities, vulnerability and adaptive capacity of the locals, or the organization of funds at various scales. This leads the international funding agencies to lose their trust in the government; and lead these agencies to set up their own channels for enabling the funds to implement the projects on climate change adaptation or mitigation. Similarly, the lack of interest for the national government towards adaptation activities further deviates the flow of funds into adaptation actions, and the focus remains over mitigation. This master’s thesis adopted the in-depth case study research strategy, and semi structured interviews were conducted with 23 climate change experts, including 2 but not limited to policy makers and international organizations staff. The results of the study were organized in four major focused areas including, a) priorities in adaptation, b) actors of adaptation, c) question of scales, and d) vulnerability and adaptive capacity of the affected communities. This study concludes that climate change adaptation is a neglected topic in Pakistan, and the mishandling of adaptation funds, under the weak policy guidelines, end up in maladaptation.