Many consider Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) to be a ‘vital approach to the threat climate change poses to the poor.’1 However, no concise yet comprehensive overview of CBA exists. This briefing paper seeks to fill that gap by providing an overview of CBA, its core principles and challenges.
The aim of CBA is to support the adaptation needs of ‘those most vulnerable:’ vast numbers of poor and marginalised peoples living in high-risk environments, primarily in developing countries. The vulnerability of these peoples is a function of their low capacity to adapt and cope, as well as their exposure and sensitivity to climatic variability and change. Proponents of CBA are often driven by concerns over the social injustices of climate change, since ‘those most vulnerable’ tend to contribute the least greenhouse gas emissions. It is considered an imperative that vulnerable peoples are provided with adaptation support that is planned, participatory and specific to local contexts.