doi: 10.3850/S179392401210002X

Application of an Operational Framework for Indentifying Successful Adaptation Projects in the Lower Mekong Basin

Li Ding Earth Observatory of Singapore, 50 Nanyang Avenue, N2-01a-05, Singapore 639798. dingli@ntu.edu.sg

ABSTRACT

Climate change vulnerability is a function of the exposure of a society to a climate hazard, its sensitivity to it and its adaptive capacity. Climate change adaptation, therefore, in seeking to reduce or eliminate this vulnerability is concerns itself not only with technical fixes that lower hazard risk but change social, economic and political norms and institutions at various levels of governance to deal with these hazards. Holistically taking stock and measuring the success of such a broadly defined series of actions is especially urgent in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB), one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change. This paper addresses the gap between the theoretical ideas of adaptation success in the literature and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks used by agencies involved in adaptation. The existing literature on adaptation success are general to all projects but lack an operational framework, while the latter is operationalized but often pertain only to specific organizations or types of projects. This paper firstly reviews the literature on adaptation success and major M&E frameworks. Supplemented by interviews and discussions, a generic evaluation framework is then constructed. The proposed framework with indicators is applied to select most successful adaptation interventions in the context of LMB. We have identified 45 climate change adaption projects in the LMB. Through a screening process and application of the framework, 6 shortlisted project cases were chosen for in-depth study. The lessons learnt in operationalizing the framework and the limitations are discussed in the conclusion of this paper.

Keywords: Successful adaptation, Climate change, Case study, Lower mekong basin.

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