Managing climate risks: adaptation without borders

We live in a globalized world. Just as people, goods and services cross borders, so do the impacts of climate change and our adaptation responses. A localized drought – occurring more frequently and intensely as a result of climate change – disrupts a global supply chain, which in turn affects consumers many thousands of miles away. An adaptation response – to increase irrigation by tapping a transboundary river – affects a shared ecosystem, and shifts sensitive political dynamics across a region. The stakes are high, yet our current adaptation plans often fail to recognize or account for such transboundary risks or our global interdependence.

That’s why Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Wilton Park will convene this high-level discussion to present new research on transboundary climate risk, and launch the Adaptation Without Borders initiative in which ODI, SEI and the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) aim to harness the international cooperation needed to effectively govern and manage transboundary climate risks.