Tradeoffs between adaptation and mitigation in climate policies

This work was conducted globally (global analysis of climate funding and climate projects) and with case studies in several countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Peru, and the Philippines).

We have explored the opportunities and trade‐offs of managing ecosystems for both climate change mitigation and adaptation. We have also analyzed how policy development integrated adaptation and mitigation in Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Peru, and the Philippines.

Although many ecosystem management activities can jointly contribute to the climate change strategies of adaptation and mitigation, climate policies have generally treated these strategies separately. In recent years, there has been a growing interest shown by practitioners and policymakers in agriculture, forestry, and landscape management in the links between the two strategies. 

Findings of the global comparative analysis shed light on the opportunities and barriers for a better integration of adaptation and mitigation into climate policies. Results are transferable beyond the selected countries.

The incorporation of adaptation and mitigation objectives into policy-making of sectoral policies requires the removal of internal contradictions among policies: these contradictions are clear in some analyzed cases where integrated approaches led to lose–lose rather than win–win situations.

CIRAD, CIFOR

Some publications about global or continental analyses:

• Locatelli B., Pavageau C., Pramova E., Di Gregorio M., 2015. Integrating climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture and forestry: Opportunities and trade-offs. WIREs Climate Change 6(6): 585-598. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wcc.357
• Kongsager R., Locatelli B., Chazarin F., 2016. Addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation together: A global assessment of agriculture and forestry projects. Environmental Management 57(2): 271-282. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0605-y
• Locatelli B., Fedele G., Fayolle V., Baglee A., 2016. Synergies between adaptation and mitigation in climate change finance. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management 8(1): 112-128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-07-2014-0088
• Locatelli B., Evans V., Wardell A., Andrade A., Vignola R., 2011. Forests and Climate Change in Latin America: Linking Adaptation and Mitigation. Forests 2(1): 431-450. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f2010431

Some publications about selected countries:

• Di Gregorio M., Nurrochmat D.R. Paavola J., Maya Sari I., Fatorelli L., Pramova E., Locatelli B., Brockhaus M., Dewi S.D.K., 2017. Climate Policy Integration in the Land Use Sector: Mitigation, Adaptation and Sustainable Development Linkages. Environmental Science and Policy 67: 35-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2016.11.004
• Thuy P.T., Moeliono M., Locatelli B., Brockhaus M., Di Gregorio M., Mardiah S., 2014. Integration of adaptation and mitigation in climate change and forest policies in Indonesia and Vietnam. Forests 5(8), 2016-2036. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f5082016
• Pramova E., Di Gregorio M., Locatelli B., 2015. Integrating adaptation and mitigation in climate change and land-use policies in Peru. Working Paper 184. Bogor, Indonesia: CIFOR. http://dx.doi.org/10.17528/cifor/005624
• Pramova E., Locatelli B., 2013. Guidebook on integrating community-based adaptation into REDD+ projects: Lessons from Indonesia and the Philippines. Bogor, Indonesia: CIFOR, 72p. http://dx.doi.org/10.17528/cifor/004340