Climate change is a matter of fact, and a major threat to all development achievements. Significant mitigation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions to a manageable level, remains the major global strategy. Sustainable forest management plays a crucial role to this end.

However, as climate change effects are already visible, e.g. rise in temperatures, reduced precipitation coming in shorter time, extreme weather events, the subsequent influences on livelihoods, production schemes, natural resources, infrastructure etc. become a key development challenge. Adaptation to climate change needs to be considered in future planning processes in order to secure human livelihoods and ecosystems as much as possible.

Through sustainable natural resource management and conservation, ecosystems can provide important adaptation services, such as food, especially for the poor, water retention, coastal protection etc. But beyond concrete measures, adaptation requires well negotiated local and national institutions to proactively manage the tremendous changes.

ECO helps strengthen strategic capacities in communities and institutions, and bridge the gap towards more sustainable livelihoods and development pathways. Adaptation strategies require the know-how of several interacting disciplines.

The ECO Consulting Group, in cooperation with our network of qualified service providers, offers concepts and approaches which lend themselves as components or modules to form an appropriate service package. Emphasis is put on practical and sustainable solutions that are facilitated by bottom-up participatory planning and implementation:

• Vulnerability and risk assessments
• Adaptation planning
• Mitigation through the Clean Development Mechanism
• Awareness-raising and education
• Training and institutional development
• Mainstreaming of disaster prevention in rural development and natural resources management (community-based disaster risk management, land use planning, management of water catchments)
• Evaluation of results and impact

Your contact:
Dr. Steve Sepp