Developing and least developed countries are, and will continue to be, greatly affected by climate change. Vulnerability to climate change is closely related to poverty as the poor have fewer financial and technical resources available to them to cope with climate-related changes; the poor have a great dependence on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and forestry, are closer to the level of tolerance to change, often live on marginal land, and their economic structures are fragile.

Furthermore, it has long been realized that certain regions of the world will be more severely affected by the effects of climate change than others. Generally, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change are urgent issues among many developing countries and are expected to become increasingly urgent in the industrialized world.

The development of a program on vulnerability and adaptation has been included as part of the long-term policy research and capacity-building activities in the network's work plan. CCKN projects in the area of vulnerability and adaptation are described below.

Climate Change and Economic Change in India: Impacts on Agriculture

CCKN Members involved: CICERO, TERI and IISD

Since 2002, the Climate Change Knowledge Network has undertaken a project on the impacts of economic and climate changes on India's agricultural sector. The main objective of this project is to examine the vulnerability to, and impacts of, climate change and globalization on Indian agriculture and rural communities, and to offer constructive policy recommendations to enable adaptation to those impacts. The project is innovative in that it uses the concept of "double exposure," a process that enables an assessment of the simultaneous impact of climate change and globalization on regions, sectors, ecosystems and social groups. In combination, these changes can create "double losers" and "double winners."

Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change: Concepts, Issues, Assessment Methods and the Potential for a CCKN Program

In July 2001, the CCKN completed a foundation paper (92 kb) that provides a brief overview of the state of adaptation issues in the context of the climate vulnerability literature and the climate negotiations. To achieve this goal, a review of the literature on vulnerability and adaptation to climate change was undertaken, with the objective of identifying the various adaptation issues that were being discussed. Assessments of vulnerability in various regions, particularly developing countries, were included. In addition, a review of relevant UNFCCC documents and analyses of the climate negotiations was conducted to understand priorities of UNFCCC Parties and to assess possibilities for vulnerability and adaptation projects in developing countries. The final part of the paper briefly discusses some of the existing resources that can be used to "guide" vulnerability assessments and adaptation work.