This guide addresses the need for integrating climate change adaptation considerations into the work of the United Nations Development Programme – United Nations Environment Programme Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI).

Efforts to mainstream climate change adaptation into national development planning are still at a relatively early stage in many countries. Countries are increasingly requesting the PEI to tackle the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into their national development planning, as part of broader poverty-environment mainstreaming efforts. In addition, by building on PEI lessons in the field of poverty-environment mainstreaming in general, the guide can provide useful insights to adaptation specialists interested in mainstreaming their efforts.

The approach recommended in this guide builds on the overall poverty-environment mainstreaming framework presented in the publication Mainstreaming Poverty-Environment Linkages into Development Planning: A Handbook for Practitioners (UNPEI 2009a). The present guide follows the same structure as the handbook. It is designed to assist champions and practitioners engaged in mainstreaming climate change adaptation. It should be seen as an invitation for mainstreaming specialists and adaptation experts to partner, each bringing their added value to the overall endeavour. The framework proposed in this guide consists of three components, each of which involves a set of activities or modules for which a range of tactics, methodologies and tools can be used.

1. Finding the entry points and making the case
2. Mainstreaming adaptation into policy processes
3. Meeting the implementation challenge.

Read the report here: Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development planning: A guide for practitioners.