Strengthening Climate Adaptive Communities
The Big Problem
Climate change is already having a devastating impact on humans. It’s believed that global climate change accounts for over 315,000 additional deaths per year, caused by phenomena such as extreme weather events, drought, and famine, and vector-borne diseases.1 Recent studies predict that almost a third of the world’s population could be facing temperatures inhospitable to life within the next 50 years.4 And the signs of this outcome are already showing; drastic temperature and precipitation changes mean that millions are losing access to safe drinking water or sufficient nutrition.3 All of this is costing the world $16 million per hour.2
Yet even in the face of escalating risk, communities hold extraordinary capacity to adapt. Strengthening the ability to prepare for, withstand, and recover from climate-related shocks and stresses isn’t only a question of resources or technology. Rather, it’s about understanding how people think, decide, and act together, so that collective action becomes as integral to climate resilience as infrastructure. Leveraging our understanding of human behavior is the key to supporting communities and societies to adjust and adapt to our planetary crisis.
About the Author
Dr. Lauren Braithwaite
Dr. Lauren Braithwaite is a Social and Behaviour Change Design and Partnerships consultant working in the international development sector. Lauren has worked with education programmes in Afghanistan, Australia, Mexico, and Rwanda, and from 2017–2019 she was Artistic Director of the Afghan Women’s Orchestra. Lauren earned her PhD in Education and MSc in Musicology from the University of Oxford, and her BA in Music from the University of Cambridge. When she’s not putting pen to paper, Lauren enjoys running marathons and spending time with her two dogs.
