OCIAL SOCIAL SCIENCE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ASIA, ACADEMIC REVIEW | 2014 | BISHKEK | Page | 5 NATURAL SCIENCES Rahat Sabyrbekov / AUCA Academic Review 2 (15) (2014) 5-16 CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: CASE OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC Rahat Sabyrbekov, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics American University of Central Asia Abdymomunov st. 205 720040, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic E-mail: rahat.sabyrbekov@gmail.com Abstract The paper evaluates the current climate change adaptation policies. Kyrgyz Republic is signatory to all global climate agreements and is considered one of the leaders in the development of adaptation actions. However, the analysis shows that the adaptation programs suffer from lack of local context and local leadership. More worryingly, the national adaptation plans fail to meet sustainable adaptation criteria. Keywords: sustainable adaptation, climate change, globalization. Introduction Climate change adaptation is „adjustment in natural or human sвstems in response to actual or eбpected climatic stimuli or their effects‟ (IPCC, 2007). The knowledge on adaptation and climate change is growing. Pasgaard and Strange (2013) found that the topic was researched in more than 15,000 scientific publications from 197 countries. Adaptation is also the major focus of the latest IPCC report and our knowledge of the subject has advanced much since the first assessment report was published in 1990. One of the directions of discussion is the emphasis on the maintaining or increasing the standard of living while preserving the environment. The climate change is seen as a barrier for the economic growth and the development. So the approach calculates by how much the GHG should be reduced to keep the current levels of economic growth (Stern, 2007).