Climate Adaptation at Scale – Is Your Organisation Ready? – Which Organisational Capacities Are Relevant?

The accelerating scale and intensity of climate impacts push organisations to rethink how they address climate adaptation. The overall numbers diverge, but all show a worrying trend. The IPCC identifies 3.3 to 3.6 billion, while the World Bank (based on a different definition) counts 1.2 billion people facing life-changing risks. As climate-related risks disproportionately affect vulnerable communities, especially in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, the urgency to scale up adaptation efforts has become clear.

International humanitarian and development organisations have long been committed to addressing climate vulnerabilities, working in some of the world’s most challenging environments and contexts. However, recent trends and evidence point to the need for a more ambitious approach to designing climate-responsive interventions and programming. This applies in particular to fragile and conflict-affected contexts and protracted crises (Mercy Corps 2023, ODI Global & ICRC 2024, ICRC, ODI, ICVA, Mercy Corps, RCCC, UNHCR, WFP 2022, UNDRR-WMO Centre of Excellence for Climate and Disaster Resilience 2023), where climate adaptation is both critical and complex.

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) and its focus on preparedness has introduced more anticipatory approaches. However, even in such difficult contexts it is essential to consider the more structural and long-term ‘offers’ among the climate adaptation approaches. Overall, approaches labelled as DRR, CCA, resilience-building, anticipatory and early action, loss & damage should ideally be integrated into comprehensive risk management strategies that combine the strengths and opportunities that these various approaches bring to the table.

From an organisational point of view, there is a broad range of capacities that an organisation can and should consider enhancing (see the Climate Adaptation Capacity Wheel).

They can be roughly grouped into five capacity dimensions:

1. Governance – organisational structure, decision-making, leadership, accountability, organisational culture, incentives mechanisms
2. Analytical Capacity – management and implementation of climate risk analysis, interpretation and sense-making skills
3. Programming & Implementation Capacity – implementation and logistical capacity and structures, programming design skills and competencies
4. Financing – fundraising skills and systems, financing models, integration of CCA into budgets
5. Knowledge – data, information, knowledge systems, MEL, innovation on climate risk and CCA effectiveness

Scaling ambitions can mean organisational investments in any of the above-mentioned capacity dimensions and elements. While not completely overlapping, the majority of capacity dimensions are similar to the capacities of climate-vulnerable individuals, households and community levels that humanitarian and development aim to strengthen or help develop, obviously in view of the dominant and imminent climate hazards and assets, technologies at hand.

There are many capacity development tools that support both, (a) to (self-)assess and monitor progress and (b) guide the activities and investments at organisational level to systemically develop CCA-related capacities across the organisation (e.g. the Capacity Diagnosis & Development Tool, CADD).

PlanAdapt has recently worked with a renowned international humanitarian organisation to review existing capacities and systems with the aim to provide recommendations on ways forward to scale its ambition in view of climate adaptation.

The team carried out extensive consultations with colleagues from the organisation to gain a deeper understanding of existing capacities and challenges. This process was complemented by a review of internal documents, discussions with similar humanitarian organisations operating in similar contexts, as well as an analysis of good practices within the sector to provide well-rounded and actionable recommendations.

Scaling organisational capacities has an ultimate goal, which is to enhance the impact of support population groups that struggle with the negative impacts of climate – in other words, impact or success of CCA measures and programmes.

Scaling impact of CCA-related programming can happen along different pathways to extend the reach, depth, or effect of interventions. Three types of scaling concepts are dominant:

• Scaling-up consists of shifting the strategies, policies and laws of systems to bring social and economic benefit to large(r) numbers of people;
• Scaling-out is about growing or replicating a solution to other geographic areas, including lateral scaling to new target populations; and
• Scaling-deep involves actions intended to promote transformation at the sociocultural level of individuals, organizations or communities, i.e. mindsets, values, worldviews etc.

For more info on scaling climate adaptation:

• Scaling Impact: Evaluating Scalability in the Adaptation Fund’s Portfolio
• COP29 is the ‚Finance COP‘ – Finance is Crucial to Scale the Ambitions of Climate Adaptation Efforts, But Scaling Positive Adaptation Outcomes Goes Way Beyond More Funding

Read more about related PlanAdapt initiatives:

• Integrating Climate Risks in the Way Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Work with Communities