challenges that these changes pose to political equity and urban governance? The authors note that the issues of urbanization in general, the location of receiving urban centres and population density and distribution within those settlements each relates quite differently to climate change and poses different political and governance challenges. An underlying concern of Chapter 2 is that urban policy regimes already disadvantage those urban and rural dwellers who could be further threatened by climate change. If urban policy regimes become more exclusionary in response to climate change, vulnerable people could end up doubly burdened—by climate change itself and by inequitable responses to it. Moreover, the current tendency to treat urbanization as a driver of climate change—and of mal-adaptation—diverts attention from the diverse forms urbanization can take, and the ways it can become a means of addressing the risks of climate change. McGranahan and colleagues highlight the fact that land issues, already central to the challenge of contemporary urban population growth, are at the core of urban climate challenges. This can be perceived as a recurrent theme throughout much of this book, particularly in the Section 3 chapters. Growing concern about the impacts of climate change has also re-ignited discussions on their implications for population distribution and mobility. Earlier views tended to perceive environmental migration as essentially a failure to adapt to degradation that resulted in huge numbers of impoverished displaced people. The reality, however, is far more complex. An alternative view depicts mobility and migration as key adaptive strategies. In Chapter 3, Cecilia Tacoli argues that a better grasp of these admittedly complex dynamics is necessary to achieve an improved sense of what can be done to support and accommodate migration in a changing climate. More accurate information is also needed to dispel misconceptions that are often at the root of discriminatory policies against migrants. A more correct understanding of the wide range of destinations, duration of movements and composition of migratory flows is a necessary first step towards the formulation of policies relevant to population mobility. Drawing on the findings of recent empirical research in Bolivia, Senegal and the United Republic of Tanzania, Tacoli proposes a typology of mobility that takes into account the interrelations between slow-onset climate change and socioeconomic and cultural transformations and that highlights the diversity of migration and its drivers.
Population Data for Adaptation: Sources and Methodologies Adaptation encompasses a diverse and complex set of interventions and outcomes, yet data inputs to adaptation have been derived mostly from a limited set of sectors focusing on the geography of climate exposure and the kind of large-scale infrastructure necessary to protect exposed areas. To fill the gap in demographic and social data, this section of the book maps out a path to incorporating such data into adaptation analysis and programming. In Chapter 4, José Miguel Guzmán and colleagues situate data derived from the census within the layered schema of climate adaptation, suggesting that census data can fill vital gaps in information on individuals and households, while complementing existing vulnerability assessment methodology that focuses on communities, municipalities and xviii
The De mogra ph y of Ada ptation to C l imate Ch ange
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