Expert views of climate change adaptation in least developed Asia Benjamin K. Sovacool a, * , Anthony L. D’Agostino b , Harsha Meenawat b , Amireeta Rawlani c a Institute for Energy and the Environment, Vermont Law School, 164 Chelsea Street, South Royalton, VT 05068, United States b Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772, Singapore c School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119077, Singapore article info Article history: Received 25 February 2011 Received in revised form 25 October 2011 Accepted 12 November 2011 Available online Keywords: Climate change adaptation Resilience Adaptive capacity Asia Least developed countries abstract Drawing primarily from original data collected from more than 100 semi-structured research interviews, this study discusses the benefits of four climate change adaptation projects being implemented in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, and the Maldives. The article begins by explaining its research methods and selecting a sample of Global Environment Facility-Least Developed Country Fund projects being implemented in Asia to analyze. It then describes ongoing adaptation efforts in each of these four countries. It finds that projects enhance infrastructural resilience by building relevant, robust, and flexible technologies. They build institutional resilience by creating strong, permanent, legitimate organizations in place to respond to climate change issues. They promote community resilience by enhancing local ownership, building capacity, and creating networks that help ordinary people learn and adapt to climate change. We find that all four of our case studies couple adaptive improvements in technology and infrastructure with those in governance and community welfare, underscoring the holistic or systemic aspect of resilience. Our study also demonstrates the salience of a functions-based approach to resilience and adaptive capacity rather than an asset-based one. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction and aims This study discusses the resilience benefits of climate change adaptation projects being implemented in Asia under the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) from the perspective of a select group of experts. Established in 2001, the LDCF was created exclusively to help least developed countries prepare and implement national adaptation programs of action aimed at improving adaptive capacity related to climate change. Currently one of the world’s largest funds for climate adaptation, the GEF has so far (as of July 2011) leveraged $415 million in voluntary contributions to support 47 adaptation projects in 48 countries, projects implemented in tandem with partner agencies including the World Bank, United Nations Devel- opment Program, and Food and Agriculture Organization. This article specifically asks: what forms of adaptation are currently ongoing in four least developed Asian countries, and what does this tell us about building community, infrastructural, and institutional resilience to the consequences of climate change? In answering this question, the article begins by explaining its research methods and how a sample of LDCF projects being implemented in Asia was selected. It then describes four ongoing climate change adaptation efforts in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambo- dia, and the Maldives before proposing that successful programs and policies cut across multiple dimensions. They strengthen infrastructural resilience by creating or rehabilitating relevant, robust, and flexible technologies. They promote institutional resil- ience by bolstering strong, permanent, legitimate organizations in place to respond to climate change issues. They encourage community resilience by enhancing local ownership over assets, building capacity, and creating networks that help ordinary people learn and adapt to climate change. The project’s research is unique in at least three senses. First is its comparative focus on adaptation rather than climate change mitigation in the four countries studied (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, and the Maldives). Adaptation efforts are necessary if communities are to respond to drastic changes in climate once tipping points, such as acidification of ocean, alteration of the Gulf Stream, or thawing permafrost, are crossed, and adaptation can also have a high relevance regarding slow or gradual changes in climate (Victor et al., 2009; Jerneck and Olsson, 2008). Furthermore, adaptation efforts tend to be “winewin situations,” for they not only improve resilience to climate change but often spillover into ancillary benefits such as economic stability, improved environ- mental quality, community investment, and local employment * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ65 6516 7501; fax: þ65 6468 4186. E-mail addresses: bsovacool@nus.edu.sg, sovacool@vt.edu (B.K. Sovacool). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman 0301-4797/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.11.005 Journal of Environmental Management 97 (2012) 78e88