Closing the Adaptation Gap in Mountains
Over 1 billion people are living at the frontlines of climate change in mountain areas, where warming rates outpace the global average and are driving significant changes in environments and ecosystem services. These changes are exacerbating socioeconomic difficulties faced by many mountain communit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Mountain Society
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Mountain Research and Development |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1 |
| _version_ | 1818888475339915264 |
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| author | Graham McDowell Madison Stevens Alexandra Lesnikowski Christian Huggel Alexandra Harden Jose DiBella Michael Morecroft Praveen Kumar Elphin Tom Joe Indra D. Bhatt Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative |
| author_facet | Graham McDowell Madison Stevens Alexandra Lesnikowski Christian Huggel Alexandra Harden Jose DiBella Michael Morecroft Praveen Kumar Elphin Tom Joe Indra D. Bhatt Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative |
| author_sort | Graham McDowell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Over 1 billion people are living at the frontlines of climate change in mountain areas, where warming rates outpace the global average and are driving significant changes in environments and ecosystem services. These changes are exacerbating socioeconomic difficulties faced by many mountain communities, and are already intensifying vulnerabilities across mountain areas globally. The situation is indicative of pervasive and consequential deficits in adaptation, and calls attention to the need for a better understanding of existing adaptation efforts, as well as the prospects for increasing the quantity and quality of adaptation action in mountain regions. In response, this MountainAgenda article introduces a conceptual framework for adaptation gaps. It then uses data from 2 major global-scale adaptation reviews to shed light on the nature and true magnitude of the adaptation gap in mountains. It reveals shortcomings in available adaptation options, deficits in the uptake of existing adaptation support, and a general lack of coherence between existing adaptations and keystone global agreements relevant to climate change adaptation. These shortcomings are largely related to soft limits to adaptation that constrain responses across mountain areas. In this article, we provide recommendations for closing the adaptation gap in mountains and suggest that this will require deeply collaborative efforts that are rooted in local needs, aspirations, and ways of knowing, but that are also supported by external capacity building and implementation resources. In many instances, this will resemble a transformative approach to adaptation. The conceptual framework presented here is broadly applicable and can also be utilized to identify and close adaptation gaps in social-ecological contexts beyond mountains. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T16:53:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8977d9087db3454b845d740824c43b20 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0276-4741 1994-7151 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T16:53:43Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | International Mountain Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Mountain Research and Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-8977d9087db3454b845d740824c43b202022-12-21T20:13:28ZengInternational Mountain SocietyMountain Research and Development0276-47411994-71512021-08-01413A1A10https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1Closing the Adaptation Gap in MountainsGraham McDowell0Madison Stevens1Alexandra Lesnikowski2Christian Huggel3Alexandra Harden4Jose DiBella5Michael Morecroft6Praveen Kumar7Elphin Tom Joe8Indra D. Bhatt9Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative10Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Geography, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada; grahammcdowell@gmail.comInstitute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, 429-2202 Main Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaDepartment of Geography, Planning & Environment, Concordia University, 1445 de Maisonneuve Boulevard W, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, CanadaDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Geography, University of Connecticut, 215 Glenbrook Road, U-4148, Storrs, CT 06269, USADepartment of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue, Waterloo, ON N2J 3G1, CanadaNatural England, Mail-hub, County Hall, Worcester WR5 2NP, UKSchool of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India; Department of Sustainable Landscape Development, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle (Saale), GermanyEconomics Center, World Resources Institute, Lower Ground Floor AADI 2, Balbir Saxena Marg, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, IndiaCentre for Biodiversity Conservation and Management, G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand 263643, Indiahttps://globaladaptation.github.io/Over 1 billion people are living at the frontlines of climate change in mountain areas, where warming rates outpace the global average and are driving significant changes in environments and ecosystem services. These changes are exacerbating socioeconomic difficulties faced by many mountain communities, and are already intensifying vulnerabilities across mountain areas globally. The situation is indicative of pervasive and consequential deficits in adaptation, and calls attention to the need for a better understanding of existing adaptation efforts, as well as the prospects for increasing the quantity and quality of adaptation action in mountain regions. In response, this MountainAgenda article introduces a conceptual framework for adaptation gaps. It then uses data from 2 major global-scale adaptation reviews to shed light on the nature and true magnitude of the adaptation gap in mountains. It reveals shortcomings in available adaptation options, deficits in the uptake of existing adaptation support, and a general lack of coherence between existing adaptations and keystone global agreements relevant to climate change adaptation. These shortcomings are largely related to soft limits to adaptation that constrain responses across mountain areas. In this article, we provide recommendations for closing the adaptation gap in mountains and suggest that this will require deeply collaborative efforts that are rooted in local needs, aspirations, and ways of knowing, but that are also supported by external capacity building and implementation resources. In many instances, this will resemble a transformative approach to adaptation. The conceptual framework presented here is broadly applicable and can also be utilized to identify and close adaptation gaps in social-ecological contexts beyond mountains.https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1adaptationclimate changegapslimitsmountains |
| spellingShingle | Graham McDowell Madison Stevens Alexandra Lesnikowski Christian Huggel Alexandra Harden Jose DiBella Michael Morecroft Praveen Kumar Elphin Tom Joe Indra D. Bhatt Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative Closing the Adaptation Gap in Mountains Mountain Research and Development adaptation climate change gaps limits mountains |
| title | Closing the Adaptation Gap in Mountains |
| title_full | Closing the Adaptation Gap in Mountains |
| title_fullStr | Closing the Adaptation Gap in Mountains |
| title_full_unstemmed | Closing the Adaptation Gap in Mountains |
| title_short | Closing the Adaptation Gap in Mountains |
| title_sort | closing the adaptation gap in mountains |
| topic | adaptation climate change gaps limits mountains |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1 |
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