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This chapter delves into adaptation options broadly classified as structural/physical, institutional and social. Building upon these, it focusses on adaptation forms: autonomous versus planned, reactive versus proactive, short run versus long run, private versus public and incremental versus transformational. In doing so, it draws attention to the complexity of climate change adaptation.

The observed increase in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases since the industrial period, due to human activities, is very likely causing the warming of the climate system. Anthropogenic warming and rising sea levels will continue for centuries due to the time scales associated with climate processes and feedbacks. Even if greenhouse gas concentrations were to be stabilized, different types of adaptation measures are needed to cope with the inevitable change. At the same time mitigation measures aiming at decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing carbon sinks must be taken in order to reduce the potential extent of global warming. This chapter covers the main aspects of the current understanding of the physical basis of climate change, including the directly measured observations and estimated projections for the 21st century. Causes and effects of climate change are also addressed. Finally, the main uncertainties of climate projections and a few general considerations on the different ways to respond to the climate change issue are discussed.

The country of Cambodia is vulnerable to climate variability and climate change (MoE, 2005). Flood and drought are common in Cambodia, and their impacts include the yearly destruction of infrastructure, property, crops, and livestock, and the loss of lives. Cambodia's adaptive capacity for flood and drought is poorly developed (NAPA, 2006). Cambodia receives most of its rainfall from the southwest monsoon, which occurs from mid-May through November. The coastal regions receive the highest rainfall amounts, about 3,000mm/year, while the highlands and lowlands receive 2,500mm/year and 1,400mm/year, respectively. The monthly distribution of rainfall results in a wet season extending from May through December and a dry season from December through April. On average, the annual rainfall in Cambodia is a bit higher than that of other countries in the region. Although the rainfall distribution in the country is high, drought has still occurred in recent years (MoE, 2005).

A review of the existing literature on disasters, impact, local vulnerability, and adaptation indicates to the fact that recent increasing frequency of natural disasters (e.g., floods, storms, and drought) have increasingly caused impacts on a diverse set of physical and biological systems, especially for those living in the developing countries where their livelihood strategies rely on natural resources (McCarthy, Canziani, Leary, Dokken, & White, 2001; Selvaraju, Subbiah, Baas, & Juergens, 2006; Kumar, 2007; Cruz et al., 2007).

Urbanization is increasing the vulnerability in mega cities, where poor community often squat on low-lying areas, hilly areas, and hazards prone areas (IDNDR, 1999). The built infrastructures and systems are subjected to natural hazards: floods, earthquakes, landslides, cyclones etc. Thus, cities are vulnerable to disasters (IDNDR, 1999). Moreover, cities are also facing environmental risks due to increasing urbanization (Bhatt, Gupta, & Sharma, 1999). The vulnerability can be reduced by incorporating risk management into urban planning (Bhatt et al., 1999). The risk management includes risk analysis, prevention, and preparedness. Traditionally, risk management was seen as separate discipline to mainstream urban planning (Bhatt et al., 1999). The traditional urban planning is often good at making plans (city beautiful plans, land use plans, strategic plans, development plans) and regulatory controls (Hamdi & Goethert, 1997). However, they fail to deliver benefit at the ground. Only few benefits reach the poor, who are often considered as the most vulnerable in the cities. The urban planning can be improved with an alternative: action planning, which is “problem driven, community based, participatory, small in scale, fast, and incremental, with result that is tangible, immediate, and sustainable” (Hamdi & Goethert, 1997). The action planning is often considered relevant in scaling up its outcome from local level to sectoral and national level. This chapter focuses on linking action planning and community-based adaptation. The community can be defined as “a group of people that are directly linked to each other through a common identity, activity or interest” (Jones & Rehman, 2007). The adaptation here is used in context of climate change, which is already happening, and impacts are growing (IPCC, 2001). The community-based adaptation is process oriented and “based on communities’ priorities, needs, knowledge, and capacities, which should empower people to plan for and cope with the impact of climate change” (Reid et al., 2009). This chapter first briefly discusses the action planning process and its challenges. Further, the chapter discusses the action planning in detail. Later the chapter focuses on framework and tools for community-based adaptation. It also discusses few case studies and challenges and issues. Finally, the chapter tries to build a link between action planning and community-based adaptation.

Climate change adaptations are today pursed globally to address the threats associated with climate change. The IPCC Third Assessment Report and the Fourth Assessment Report have outlined the most accurate changes to be expected by 2100 with the only uncertainty relating to the timing and magnitude of these changes, not their occurrence (IPCC, 2007). In Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the changes are already manifested through coastal flooding, erosion, salt water intrusion, damaged water sources, and increased storm damages. SIDS are also under threat from their rapidly increasing population that needs settlements, services, and facilities, their limited size that severely confines their options, and their poor resources both in terms of weak financial position and restricted human capacity. This is the reason why SIDS, which will be the first and worst victims, must devote more concerted effort to adapt to these eventualities.

‘Planned relocation’ has emerged in the international climate policy arena as an ‘adaptation’ solution with the potential to enhance resilience, address underdevelopment and debunk age-old narratives around migration as a risk to peace and security. In 2018, Fiji became one of the first countries to develop Planned Relocation Guidelines, with upwards of 80 villages thought to require relocation over the coming years due to the impact of climate change. Through interviews carried out with representatives from organisations involved in planning for community relocations in Fiji, this chapter explores the creation of planned relocation as a form of climate change adaptation and development. Looking specifically at the value-based challenges of implementation in Fiji, this research provides insight into what happens when dominant international policy narratives play out in practice. Through the presentation of culturally nuanced ways of understanding the problem of climate-induced migration, this chapter invites policymakers to seek out these voices when devising displacement solutions.

Food security is at risk from climate change. In fact, climate change and its drivers already affect food production through increased temperatures, changed precipitation patterns, extreme event frequency, and escalated carbon dioxide (CO₂) and ozone. These effects are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. This will cause changes to agricultural production worldwide with regional consequences for global food security. In the face of this, adaptations must be pursued that help agriculture maintain and enhance productivity under climate change while meeting growing demands for food. This chapter reviews the current literature on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and possible adaptation strategies to combat its effects. Specifically, this chapter focuses on research conducted on crop systems, livestock, fisheries, and food access.

This study concluded that food production systems around the world will be altered unevenly by climate change, with some gaining and many losing. Possible adaptation strategies will be suggested and successful implementation will need to include both public and private actions.

Given the inevitability of climate change impacting agricultural systems, adapting to the impacts is necessary to maintain future food security. More research is encouraged to determine how to best incorporate multiple systems, actors, and interests in adaptation, as well as how to best respond to the imminent threat to the food system.

Of all the natural disasters, drought is the most gradual and the most hard to predict. However, this insidious disaster continually affects the lives and livelihoods of farmers living in drought-affected areas. The northwestern part of Bangladesh is recognized as being more severely affected by drought than the rest of the country, as drought is a recurring event in this area. It has substantial impacts on agriculture and causes great suffering for farmers – in particular, poor and small farmers, who are more vulnerable to drought. Therefore, this study tries to illustrate farmers’ existing coping practices with regard to drought. It also addresses their prioritized adaptation practices, which are based on local context and available resources. This study not only focuses on the implementation of these adaptation practices from the national to the local level, but it also mentions various roles of stakeholders and a definite timeframe for each adaptation practice.