Integration of Adaptation and Mitigation in Climate Change and Forest Policies in Indonesia and Vietnam
13/12/18 10:01AM
Pham Thu Thuy, Moira Moeliono, Bruno Locatelli, Maria Brockhaus, Monica Di Gregorio and others. Forests, 2014, volume 5, number 8, pp. 2016-2036.
Abstract: Forests play a major role in both climate change mitigation
and adaptation, but few policies, if any, integrate these two aspects. Using
Indonesia and Vietnam as case studies, we identify challenges at the national
level but opportunities at the local level. Although both countries demonstrate
political commitment to integrating adaptation and mitigation in their
development plans, guidelines for policy and planning treat the two approaches
separately. The main challenges identified are lack of knowledge, lack of
political will, lack of financial incentives, and fragmentation of mandates and
tasks of different government agencies. In contrast, at the local level,
integration of mitigation and adaptation is facilitated by subnational
autonomy, where mitigation projects might have adaptation co-benefits, and vice
versa. Our results also show that many actors have a dual mandate that could
bridge adaptation and mitigation if appropriate political and financial
incentives are put in place. Successful integration of mitigation and
adaptation policies would not only remove contradictions between policies, but
also encourage governments that are designing domestic policies to exploit the
potential for positive spillovers and realize the benefits of both approaches.
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