Category Archives: Poverty
Scaling up adaptation 5: Microfinance sparked by “social energy”
Microfinance is perhaps “the” success story for scaling up development interventions. While it should continue to be a critical tool in providing climate finance to the poor and reducing their vulnerability to climate impacts, its early history also has lessons to offer for scaling up adaptation. Continue reading
Leave room for legal ambition in the Paris Agreement
The Paris climate agreement expected in December should include the option for countries to take on legally binding targets, even if no country is willing to enlist initially Continue reading
Scaling up adaptation 4: Empowering women is a process, not a project
Kudumbashree demonstrates, once again, the importance of community-drivenness, fiscal freedom, and a strong capacity development drive. Continue reading
Scaling up adaptation 3: Lessons from Indonesia
My second case study of a successfully scaled-up development intervention that could provide lessons for adaptation is from Indonesia: the Kecamatan (sub-district) Development Programme (KDP). KDP had what has been described as an “explosive” scaling up, from initial pilots in … Continue reading
Five important national considerations that must trump GCF readiness
With pledges exceeding US$10 billion,the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is open for business, and expected to start disbursing funds over the next few months. This is a good time, therefore, to remind policy makers in developing countries that GCF requirements are only one part of the picture – there are far more important national considerations that should be taken into account first, before deciding where the GCF arrangements will fit in. Continue reading
Vulnerable India 8: Weather advisories need a human interface, and crop insurance needs a makeover
Both need stronger partnerships with non-government actors The plight of India’s poor farmers is poignantly highlighted by the suicides that continue to take place each year. Over 300,000 farmers have taken their lives since 1995 due to a combination of … Continue reading
Vulnerable India 6: Decentralisation and its discontents
One of the most critical elements for successful adaptation by poor and vulnerable communities – if not the most critical element – will be their ability to identify local climate-related threats and respond quickly where response is possible, with locally … Continue reading
Vulnerable India 3: The politics of vulnerability
What is the nature of India’s vulnerability to climate change? This is a very important question. How we choose to answer it will determine whether we see and respond to the whole picture; or whether we choose to see only … Continue reading
Vulnerable India 2: Beneath the veneer
The polishing of India’s image in the recent past appears to be slowly erasing an integral truth about the country. ‘India Shining’ and ‘Incredible India’ at home, the country is commonly referred to as an ‘emerging economy’, a ‘key/large developing … Continue reading
Vulnerable India 1: Climate change in the world’s largest democracy
Real Swaraj (self-rule) will come, not by the acquisition of authority by a few, but by the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority when it is abused. In other words, Swaraj is to be attained by educating … Continue reading
It must be said! 