Editorial: Climate change adaptation and mitigation measures at local and national levels for sustainable development

Citation

Ahmed, M.F. (2023), "Editorial: Climate change adaptation and mitigation measures at local and national levels for sustainable development", International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 577-578. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-11-2023-218

Along with the progress and development of human civilizations, people have overexploited natural resources, and the waste generated from the consumption of goods and services remains one of the most significant challenges to manage. Moreover, due to the rise in global temperature, extreme weather events are observed frequently worldwide. Some developed nations are in better positions to manage the impacts of climate change via good experts, institutions and financial support than the many developing nations. This special issue is looking for answers to the key questions of how science, engineering, technology and innovation; social science and humanities have been brought in the same platform and encouraged sustainability science for better resilience towards the impacts of rapid climate change. Hence, concepts such as the water-energy-food nexus and disaster risk reduction are very important to tackling climate change as well as contributing to achieving sustainable development. Therefore, the collection of the articles in this special issue will help not only the researchers and policymakers but also the business sector and communities both in the developed and developing nations to address climate change and sustainable development. The issue also encourages researchers and scientists to come out with effective mechanisms to use the existing data and information to combat climate change, especially at the local level, combining multi-stakeholder groups for better decision-making processes towards sustainable development. Some findings are as follows:

• Aboye et al. (2023) reported that a particular agroecological zone is an essential precursor to dealing with current and projected climate change in Ethiopia. The agroecological zone will provide useful understandings to develop successful adaptation policies for southern Ethiopia’s lowlands to improve adaptive capacity and agricultural sustainability.

• Likinaw et al. (2022) focused on the linkages between climate change risk perceptions and adaptation responses of households in South Gondar, Ethiopia. In response to climate change risks, households used several adaptation strategies such as adjusting crop planting dates, crop diversification, terracing, tree planting, cultivating drought-tolerant crop varieties and off-farm activities. However, this study statistically confirms that adaptation strategies are location-specific based on the findings of different districts of South Gondar, Ethiopia. Therefore, this study could be helpful for policymakers and development practitioners in designing locally specific, actual adaptation options that shape adaptation to recent and future climate change risks.

• Belay et al. (2023) confirmed that sex, level of education, livestock holding, access to credit, farm distance, market distance and training were significant factors that affected the use of climate-smart agricultural practices, specifically improved crop varieties, intercropping, improved livestock breeds and rainwater harvesting in the northeast Ethiopia.

• Bitire (2022) explored that in Ethiopia, there is no national climate change-specific policy and legislation. Although there are scattered sectoral climate-related policies and strategies, they are not consistent with the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Therefore, this study argues that having comprehensive specific climate change policy and legislative frameworks consistent with UNFCCC guiding principles could help mitigate and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change in Ethiopia.

• Asadnabizadeh (2022) used qualitative data analysis to explore what was said about climate change in four sections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report 6 of Working Group I summary for policymakers, which may influence current and future global climate change policymaking. This study reported that the relatedness of keywords (e.g. confidence, high and warming) is sometimes ambiguous; even experts may disagree on how the words are linked to form a concept.

• Zhang et al. (2023) use an international political lens to critically analyze India’s climate positions and politics from both domestic and international levels, demonstrating the importance of considering both short- and long-term goals. India has both the domestic needs and long-term benefits of combating climate change to cut carbon emissions, which gives the responsibility primarily to domestic audiences and international societies. The outcome benefits not only the policymakers in India but also stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific and beyond.