Enabling environment for private sector/multi-stakeholder action to strengthen resilience to climate change
Florence Crick
Partners: Innovation, Environnement et Développement Afrique and Kenya Markets Trust
Geographical focus: Semi-arid lands in Senegal and Kenya
Duration: July 2015 – September 2017
This research project aims at deepening understanding of how private sector actors can contribute to and become key agents of change for inclusive climate-resilient development, how businesses can adapt and take advantage of new opportunities created by the dynamics resulting from climate change and how the public sector and multi-stakeholder partnerships can incentivise this process.
More information
Understanding how climate change will affect private sector activities and incentives is critical to understanding the social, environmental and overall economic impacts of climate change in semi-arid lands (SALs). Yet, the role and impact of the private sector in developing countries in delivering adaptation and, more generally, inclusive climate resilient development, is poorly understood and has received limited research and policy attention to date. In addition, climate resilient development in the SALs of developing countries will not occur through the independent and discrete activities of actors working in different sectors and at different scales, but will instead require action across multiple sectors and from both public and private actors. Despite the increasing recognition of the importance of partnerships in dealing with the challenge of climate change, there has been limited research on how multi-stakeholder partnerships can help developing countries deal with the challenge of climate change and support adaptation and climate resilient development. Focusing on Senegal and Kenya, this research project will investigate how private sector actors can contribute to and become key agents of change for inclusive climate resilient development, how businesses can adapt and take advantage of new opportunities created by the change in dynamics from climate change and how the public sector and multi-stakeholder partnerships can incentivise this process. It will lead to a better understanding of the drivers and incentives for, as well as barriers to, private sector adaptation, the role of the government in creating an enabling environment for private sector adaptation and the role that multi-stakeholder partnerships can play in supporting adaptation and climate resilient development in SALs at multiple scales. The research team will adopt a critical lens to investigate the gender and equity implications of private sector-led adaptation.
Research questions include:
- How is the private sector taking climate change into account, and what barriers is it facing in this process?
- What role can the public sector play in promoting change and incentivising businesses to adapt and take advantage of new opportunities created by the change in dynamics from climate change?
- How can multi-stakeholder partnerships maximise the economic development and resilience benefits of responding to climate change in semi-arid lands?