Page 23 - Governing Congo Basin Forests in a Changing Climate • Olufunso Somorin

General Introduction and Research Setting
mutual dependence, both are tied to sustainable development (IPCC, 2007;
Parry, 2009). 1
It is well accepted that due to lag time in the global climate system, no mitigation effort, irrespective of how rigorous and relentless, is going to prevent climate change from happening in the next few decades (IPCC, 2007; Ravindranath, 2007; Klein et al., 2005), thus making adaptation to be extremely critical, especially for low income countries with low adaptive capacity. A plethora of definitions of adaptation exists, but what is central to all these definitions is the capacity of systems to deal with perturbations from external risks through social and/or ecological adjustments. In principle, it involves adjustment to reduce vulnerability of communities, regions or activities to climate variability and change, and enhance their resilience (Paavola and Adger, 2006; Kant and Wu, 2012). Vulnerability refers to the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extreme events. Vulnerability is often considered to be a function of the character, magnitude and variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity (Adger, 2006; Fussel and Klein, 2006; Smit and Wandel, 2006; IPCC, 2007). Figure 1-1 presents adaptation and mitigation as climate responses, and vulnerability as a constituent element of adaptation.
As a policy response to climate change, planned adaptation implies the use of information about present and future climate change to review the suitability of current and planned practices, policies, and infrastructure (Fussel, 2007). Autonomous adaptation does not constitute a conscious response to climatic impacts but is triggered by ecological changes in natural systems or by market or welfare changes in human systems (IPCC, 2007). An important constituent of a planned adaptation is assessing the vulnerability of systems or sectors to the impacts of climate change. Assessment of vulnerabilities of society (individuals, livelihoods and populations) and places (ecosystems – land, water) to climate risks, within the contexts of institutions, characterizes the strategy for adaptation policy.
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