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Perceptions of climate change risks and resilient island planning in the Maldives

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 23:26 authored by Benjamin SovacoolBenjamin Sovacool
This article explores the drivers, benefits, and challenges facing climate change adaptation in the Maldives. It specifically investigates the “Integrating Climate Change Risks into Resilient Island Planning in the Maldives” Program, or ICCR, a four-year $9.3 million adaptation project being funded by the Least Developed Countries Fund, Maldivian Government and the United Nations Development Program, and nationally executed by the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Environment of the Maldivian Government. The article asks: what is the perception of coastal adaptation in the Maldives, and what are the potential contributions from the ICCR project? To answer this question, the article summarizes eight primary sectors vulnerable to climate change in the Maldives: human settlements, critical infrastructure, tourism, fisheries, health systems, water, food security, and coral reef biodiversity. It then describes the genesis and background behind the ICCR, which addresses many of these vulnerabilities by demonstrating coastal protection measures. Benefits to the ICCR include improving physical resilience by deploying “soft” infrastructure, institutional resilience by training policymakers and enhancing good governance, and community resilience by strengthening community assets and awareness. Challenges include ensuring that adaptation efforts are enough to truly respond to climate vulnerability, lack of coordination, and short-term thinking among business and community leaders.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change

ISSN

1381-2386

Publisher

Springer Netherlands

Issue

7

Volume

17

Page range

731-752

Department affiliated with

  • SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2016-01-07

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