The Walker Institute’s Director, Prof. Rosalind Cornforth, delivered a talk for the ICIMOD Consultation Workshop in the Himalayan University Consortium on My Climate Risk: Integrated Climate, Livelihoods and Environment Storylines for Adaptation Planning. This initiative seeks to identify and analyse trajectories of critical risks under different climate scenarios and their implications for mountain economies and livelihoods. This will support stakeholders in preparing for anticipatory adaptation actions in development, planning, and transitioning to a sustainable mountain economy.
About the consultation
The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region is experiencing significant transformations driven by climate and socio-economic change. Variations in temperature, precipitation patterns, and the increased incidence and intensity of extreme weather events as a result of changing climate are impacting ecosystems, water resources, and communities. Socio-economic changes like migration, urbanization, and infrastructure development are also affecting local livelihoods and traditional resource management practice.
Many adaptation strategies currently focus on addressing immediate impacts reactively, but climate models and projections underline the need for proactive anticipatory measures. These measures involve planning for potential future changes and uncertainties. Despite improvements in global climate science, and our capability for long-term projections, effective adaptation requires better understanding of impacts on livelihoods and economies. Further, adaptation needs are highly context-specific, so a nuanced understanding of impacts, adaptive capacities, and resources must be developed at local scale. There is an urgent need to develop approaches that can bridge the gap between global climate science knowledge, climate impacts and adaptation actions needed at local scales. Foresight is a label for a wide range of future-oriented methods – with participatory scenario planning as a much-used approach. This longstanding tradition has guided policy development by stress testing policies and amplifying their robustness to multiple future directions and uncertainties, including food systems policy.
In this context, ICIMOD is seeking to identify and analyse trajectories of critical risks under different climate scenarios and its implications for mountain economies and livelihoods. This will support stakeholders in preparing for anticipatory adaptation actions in development, planning, and transitioning to sustainable mountain economy. Under this intervention, we will also take stock of local led adaptation in the region and identify the knowledge gaps for effective anticipatory local adaptation.