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Challenges and Opportunities to the Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate
Change in developing countries: Review
Alefu Chinasho
Forestry Course team, School of Biodiversity and Natural Resources, Madda Walabu
University, Bale Robe, Ethiopia.
Mobile phone +251-938-055-910 P.O. Box 247
Email: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Developing countries are more vulnerable to climate change than that of developed ones which caused climate change. This is because of the sensitivity of income source (agriculture, which is seasonal production) and lack of different opportunities to tackle climate change in developing countries. Despite their differences, both mitigation and adaptation efforts are necessary due to their synergic effect in order to decrease climate change risks. Adaptation and mitigation are differ from each other; in spatial and temporal scales on which they are effective, their costs and benefits, and the actors and types of policies involved in their implementation. The challenges to climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries are explained directly or indirectly by different researchers. However, no researcher gave attention to opportunities to adaptation and mitigation of climate change in developing countries. Consequently, this review is needed to provide information on the importance of emphasizing on the opportunities than challenges to adaptation and mitigation of climate change in developing countries. The building designs, agriculture/food insecurity, low income, deforestation, and conventional solid waste management system are major challenges to climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries. However, there are opportunities to climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries. The major opportunities are financing for forests (carbon trading) in developing countries, organic agriculture, increase of tree cover outside forests, and presence of better forest coverage in developing countries. So, developing countries should emphasis on their opportunity in order to improve their adaptive and mitigation potential to climate change. This is because; once the climate change occurred, it is better if one gives attention to strategies of coping with climate change and ways to minimize the future negative impact on his or her life than telling stories about climate change impacts.
Key words: Adaptation, Challenges, Climate Change, Mitigation, Opportunities
INTRODUCTION
Developing countries are especially vulnerable to climate change because of their geographic exposure, low incomes and greater reliance on climate sensitive sectors, particularly agriculture (Davies et al, 2009). Climate change impacts people’s access to natural resources such as water and their susceptibility to disease or ability to feed their families (OXFAM, 2013). Both mitigation and adaptation efforts are necessary in order to decrease climate risks and capture co-benefits (Bizikova et al 2008), even though they differ from each other in at least three important ways (FAO 2008). Mitigation has global benefits, whereas adaptation is regional at best, but mostly local. In addition, the benefits of
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sectors in developing countries. Compared to adaptation, the number of sectoral actors involved in mitigation is limited. Both mitigation and adaptation strategies in developing countries are facing stiff challenges than that of developed countries. However, there are also opportunities that developing countries have, which developed (industrialized) countries do not.Significance/necessity of review: Climate change is increasingly impacting poor countries, whilst rich countries that have done so much to cause climate change are least affected and have more resources to adapt to climate impacts(GERMANWATCH, 2008). The adaptation and mitigation potential of developing countries to climate change are weakened as a result of poor building designs, agriculture, food in security, and low income, deforestation, and conventional solid waste management system. These challenges are explained directly or indirectly by different researchers. However, no researcher gave attention to opportunities to adaptation and mitigation of climate change in developing countries, even though there are opportunities like financing for forests (Carbon trade), organic agriculture, presence of better forest coverage, increase of tree cover outside forests.
As a result, this review is needed to identify the opportunities and challenges to climate change adaptation and mitigation, in addition to the importance of emphasizing on the opportunities for adaptation and mitigation of climate change than challenges to climate change in developing countries.
Challenges to climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries
Poor Building designs in developing countries: The design, physical layout, mechanical systems, equipment and space usage are all essential elements that can affect air quality. The air distribution system requires particular attention, such as identifying ways of outdoor air gets in, filtering air and checking the circulation of air throughout the buildings (TSI, 2013). Most of the buildings constructed in developing countries are based on only the beauty (attraction) of design, cost feasibility, number of rooms to be rented, access/nearness to main street, number of staffs to be accommodated in one room, ease of movement inside the building and portions to be included, and so on , without giving attention to IAQ. If no attention is given to identify and manage the major sources of indoor air pollution like direction of prevailing wind before the building is
constructed, a mixture of impure air masses will be blown to the building. The air masses in a given area have some or all of pollutants obtained from vehicles, industries, metal works and landfill, chemicals from agriculture and/or horticulture, and mining).
As a result, improper building designs in developing countries affect the adaptive potential of people by affecting productivity, personal comfort, building maintenance costs and even health and safety (OSHA, 2011, TSI, 2013). Not only this, but also improper building does not support planting trees for either wind break (to filter air mixture) or beauty purpose, which are un intentionally the major carbon sink(Mitigation).
Agriculture, food in security and low income in developing countries: Agriculture is not only a fundamental human activity at risk from climate change, it is also a major driver of environmental and climate change itself. It has the largest human impact on land and water resources. According to FAO 2012, about 1.4 billion ha of arable land (10 percent of total ice-free land) are used for crop cultivation and an additional 2.5 billion ha are used for pasture. Roughly 4 billion ha are forested land, five percent of which is used for plantation forestry. In addition to this, the major source of income in developing countries like Ethiopia is agriculture, which is very vulnerable to climate change and variability. Due to the sensitivity of the income source, the adaptive capacity to resist climate change and to carry out the mitigation projects in developing countries is/or can be weakened.
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year (FAO, 2007 b). Farmers in developing countries suffer from poverty as well as food insecurity and cannot bear the costs of forest conservation (Gatzweiler, 2007).Therefore, deforestation in developing countries is one of the challenges to adaptation and mitigation of climate change due to removal of forest cover to meet their basic needs (expansion of agricultural land, grazing land, construction of houses, etc.), which in other words the major sinks for carbon dioxide.
Conventional solid waste management system: The conventional solid waste management system refers to the collection, transport and damping of solid wastes at the landfill site (Solid waste management proclamation No.513/2007, of Ethiopia). As a consequence of conventional solid waste management practices, many cities in developing countries are facing environmental and health risks as well as losing economic opportunities in terms of the resource value of the waste (Modak, 2010, Mazhindu et al 2012, Zurbrügg, 2013). In order to minimize these problems, a paradigm shift to community based solid waste management is necessary, because community participation plays a great role in avoidance, reduction/minimization, reuse and recycling of solid waste (Alefu 2015, Zurbrügg, 2013). In other words, community based solid waste management reduce green house gas released to atmosphere from anaerobic decomposition of solid wastes by reducing the total mass of solid waste in the landfill.
Consequently, the conventional solid waste management system hinders the community’s adaptive capacity and mitigation potential to climate change by causing economical, environmental (ecological) and socio-cultural problems.
Opportunities for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in developing countries
Financing for forests (Carbon trade) in developing countries: The “common but differentiated responsibilities” principle motivated the developing countries to conserve the existing forest and expand forest coverage by afforestation, reforestation, enrichment planting, and natural regeneration (restoration) mechanisms. The increment in forest coverage, one way or other increases their adaptive capacities and mitigation potential for climate change. According to Alefu et al 2015, the average carbon dioxide equivalent per hectare of Humbo forest was 829.35 ton, and the
estimated money term of carbon dioxide sequestered in one hectare was $6087.429 USD. In “common but differentiated responsibilities” principle, the developed countries should pay for carbon dioxide sink made in developing countries like Ethiopia. This implies that the forest managed for carbon trading (to get money) indirectly sequesters carbon dioxide, which in other words mitigate climate change and improve the adaptive capacity of the people.
Organic Agriculture: Organic agriculture is a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity (Muller, 2009). Organic agriculture addresses key consequences of climate change, namely increased occurrence of extreme weather events, increased water stress and drought, and problems related to soil quality (IPCC 2007). Generally, organic agriculture is possible in developing countries due to the availability of organic fertilizer which can be obtained from animal dung (from live stock), crop residues, trimmings of trees and shrubs. Consequently, as agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of developing countries like Ethiopia; it is better to use organic agriculture to improve the adaptive capacity and mitigation potential to climate change and climate variability.
Presence of better Forest coverage in developing countries: Increasing the amount of trees can potentially slow the accumulation of atmospheric carbon (Houghton, 2005). During productive season, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is taken up by vegetation and stored as plant biomass (Phat et al 2004). According to IPCC (2007) report, on until 2050 on average, forest has a biophysical mitigation potential of 5,380 Mt CO2/yr. According to Niles et al 2002, the total amount of carbon that could be sequestered by reforestation to create native forests over the ten-year period is 316 million tons on 3.5 million hectares of land. The greatest potential exists in countries of Latin America (56% of the total), followed by Asia (30% of the total) and Africa (14% of the total). This shows that there is larger forest coverage in developing country than the developed ones, which results in more carbon dioxide sunk, healthier community and higher biodiversity (species diversity). In other words, better forest coverage improves the adaptive capacity and mitigation potential of developing countries if they use this opportunity in appropriate manner.
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agricultural lands and farms, trees in the rural landscape and along roads, rivers and human settlements, and trees in and around cities. Trees outside forests can also have an important role in climate change adaptation, through diversified land-use practices, livelihoods and sources of income, and through enhancement of agricultural productivity and buffering against weather-related production losses, enhancing resilience against climate impacts in farming systems (FAO, 2010). As a result of large proportion of tree cover outside forests in developing countries than industrialized countries, this is one of the opportunities developing countries should use to improve their adaptive capacity and mitigation potential to climate change and variability.Conclusion
There are a number of hindering factors to the adaptation and mitigation of Climate change in developing countries. Of these factors, the major ones are building designs, agriculture/food insecurity, deforestation, and conventional solid waste management system. On the other hands, there are also fostering factors to adaptation and mitigation of climate change in developing countries, such as financing for forests(Carbon trading) in developing countries, organic agriculture, increase of tree cover outside forests, and presence of better forest coverage in developing countries. So, developing countries should emphasis on their opportunity in order to improve their adaptive and mitigation potential to climate change. This is because; once the climate change occurred, it is better if one gives attention to strategies of coping with climate change and ways to minimize the future negative impact on his or her life than telling stories about climate change impacts.
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