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Climate Change

Climate change is likely to have enormous social, political, economic and environmental consequences. We know that it will affect poor countries first and worst, and that the poorest people will be most exposed and vulnerable. DFID will rapidly expand and diversify our research, as part of a wider effort to tackle climate change across UK government. They will research:

• climate science, especially in Africa;
• how to tackle climate change in national and international policy;
• strategies for adapting to climate change;
• mitigation and low carbon growth.

An international Climate Change Centre will be established to provide in-country research and advisory services.

Little existing research on climate change is focussed on poverty impacts despite the fact that climate change is expected to hit developing countries the hardest. Current levels of greenhouse gas emissions mean that many impacts are now unavoidable: ranging from decreases in crop yields in regions where people are already undernourished, to more severe water stresses and increased incidence of serious climate-related disasters. Climate change impacts will also impair poverty reduction efforts. The poor will have to cope with more droughts, more extreme temperatures and sudden and intense rainfall causing greater food insecurity, loss of income, greater mortalities and increased prevalence of diseases.

Initial scoping work focussed on the implications of climate change, to establish what developing country players regard as the most urgent research needs, and to identify what research other funders are supporting.

DFID has now announced a joint venture with the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to investigate climate change in Africa. The partnership is providing £32 million over five years (£24 million from DFID) to look at how Africans can adapt to change. The programme aims to bring scientists and governments together to share expertise and develop policies to tackle extreme weather and its effect on Africa’s poor.

It is expected that the effects of climate change in Africa, including increased likelihood of both floods and droughts, will be felt more acutely than in more developed regions. Research is likely to include the development of plans for urban areas to deal with floods and disease outbreaks, research into water conservation, agriculture and food distribution practices. This will be achieved by sharing expertise among scientists and governments, and coordinated via IRDC regional offices in Egypt, Kenya and Senegal.

Maureen O’Neil, President of the IDRC, emphasized that the programme will be led by Africans for Africans.
"It is critical that Africans shape the research that can best respond to the continent’s real needs in the area of climate change adaptation. IDRC’s regional presence in Africa will help make African leadership of this programme a practical reality... Advisory expertise will be of the highest calibre, drawn from across the continent and internationally."

For more details on the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa Research and Capacity Development Programme (CCAA) see www.idrc.ca/ccaa

See the working paper on Climate Change which informed the Research Strategy 2008-2013.

DFID programmes on Energy are included under climate change.

The timing of research competitions and calls for proposals can be found in the Implementation Timetable.

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