First Global Report on Climate Change Adaptation Finds Governments are Underestimating the Challenge

Boston, January 2010: In its recently published report Floating Houses and Mosquito Nets: Emerging Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Around the World, Boston-based Meister Consultants Group, Inc. (MCG) asserts that governments are largely unprepared for the challenges of climate change adaptation. Through a comprehensive review of existing adaptation strategies, the study also identifies key factors for successful adaptation planning.

As countries around the world continue to negotiate a plan to mitigate climate change, the reality is that the impacts of climate change are visible today. We are seeing an increase in the earth’s average temperature, a decrease in snow, glacial and polar ice cover, rising sea levels, changes in water supply, and severe heat waves and droughts. Governments and industry have been slow to react to these events and are only beginning to consider adaptation measures. This survey of climate change adaptation initiatives provides a timely overview of adaptation activities around the world with the intent to inform decision makers in the public and private sector on how they can approach this increasingly relevant issue.

The study, compiled by an international team of experts, profiles the adaptation strategies of 16 countries and identifies key government agencies (of both developed and developing nations) and non-governmental organizations that are at the forefront of climate change planning. Numerous sectors are covered in the report, including energy, public health, tourism, water management, agriculture and forestry, biodiversity, building and land use planning, and insurance and finance. 

Floating Houses and Mosquito Nets is available for download at no cost.

 

Meister Consultants Group, Inc. (MCG) is a Boston-based international consulting firm that specializes in the rapidly expanding field of sustainability. By leveraging participation and dialogue tools as well as our expertise in business and governmental affairs, MCG helps clients shape strategies to adapt to changing events, markets, and policies. MCG is founded on the principle that global best practices can inform even the most localized decisions. As a collaborative partner and consultant, we connect the expertise of our international network with insights of local experts to implement robust sustainability strategies and sustainability programs.

For more information, contact us at info(at)mc-group.com.