Climate Change and the economics of adaptation

The Knowledge for Change Program, backed by the UN, has come out with crucial development based research results. This research is founded keeping the crisis of climate change in mind. The three different research studies focus efforts in different areas which vitally need attention.

1. Climate-vulnerable coastal countries

Rising sea levels hold severe health risks in many countries particularly those in South Asia. Rising salinity levels impact clean freshwater resources, the ill-effects are clear here: drinking water sources are compromised which also implies that agriculture takes a hit.

2. Low-Carbon Growth Scenarios

There are multiple options of emission mitigation strategies that countries can choose from. It has been found that adopting one measure fully can yield surprisingly efficient results. For example, in the case of Brazil, controlling deforestation alone could help a country meet its CO2 emission reduction target.

3. Clean electricity options in Africa

Clean electricity is making it’s way through Africa, however there is the constant question of balance: how do we maintain economic growth while still sticking with the promise of staying carbon neutral?

This question may have some positive answers now. Researchers(Deichmann et al. 2010) have found that stand-alone renewable energy has helped in expanding rural energy access. In the case of Ethiopia, minigrid wind power is already more cost competitive than central grid electricity in most areas of the country.