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This blog is hosted by the Development Marketplace. It is a platform for debate and knowledge sharing on early stage development, innovation and social entrepreneurship. More »

October 2009

Adaptation to Climate Tied to Development

Submitted by Rasmus Heltberg on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 07:23

How should adaptation to climate change be designed and funded? In the run-Storm pattern from satelliteup to the December 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations there’s an international push to create new funding mechanisms for climate adaptation in developing countries. Given the complexity of climate change and limited experience in funding adaptation, we in the World Bank’s Social Development department decided to launch a study of the lessons from the DM2009 proposals. The proposals constitute a large and interesting database of proposed adaptation interventions. By studying the proposals as a group, we hope to gain insight into the global supply of adaptation innovations and project ideas, especially at the community level.

Our study considers how adaptation is conceptualized by suppliers of global adaptation interventions, what innovations for climate adaptation are proposed, and what kind of partnerships are put forward. We hope to contribute to policy discussions on how donors in the future can provide funding for community-based adaptation to climate change.

One of the discussions circulating among practitioners is how to orient funding for adaptation: Should development funds be considered separate from adaptation or are the two intertwined?    

Warm Welcome From Bank and DM2009 Sponsors

Submitted by Edith Wilson on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 10:07

The banner that's been unfurled across the facade of the World Bank's Main Complex in Washington, D.C., where DM2009 will be held Nov. 10-13, tells the story.  Are you registered?

From Kathy Sierra, Vice President of the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Network, and Sanjay Pradhan, Vice President of the World Bank Institute, comes this welcome to DM2009 finalists:

Development Marketplace 2009 couldn't have a more timely or significanSanjay Pradhant theme: “100 Ideas to Save the Planet and its people from the effects of a changing climate.” 
 
Managing risks from climate change will require not only one hundred but thousands of ideas from communities all over the world. Identifying the best of those ideas and reducing the time it takes to incubate, develop, and take them to scale will mean the difference between life and death to those people who live in the most vulnerable areas.

DM2009 Kicks Off '100 Ideas to Save the Planet' Competition on Nov. 10

Submitted by Tom Grubisich on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 09:09

Development Marketplace 2009 goes into business on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, with an intense four-day global competition among "100 ideas to save the planet," including some helping the world's most vulnerable people adapt to threatening climate change.

The public is invited, but visitors must register by Tuesday, Nov. 3.  Here's the four-day agenda for the event, which will be held in the Main Complex of the World Bank Group in Washington, DC. (Visitors should enter the Bank at 18th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW.)

Coming on the heels of the publication of the Bank's World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change, DM2009: Climate Adaptation has sub-themes aimed at producing streamlined, easy-to-scale innovations that will help protect people in developing countries, especially the poorest, who live in the most climate-vulnerable places and situations.

The three sub-themes:

1. resilience of Indigenous Peoples (at left, photo of Andes family),
2. climate risk management with multiple benefits and
3. climate adaptation and disaster risk management.