The Global Islands’ Vulnerability Research, Adaptation, Policy and Development (GIVRAPD) project sought to understand the multiple social, economic, governance and environmental conditions that shape vulnerability and capacity to adapt to climate change by integrating scientific and local knowledge. It was a comparative study of four small coastal communities facing similar challenges and contexts in St. Lucia, Jamaica, the Seychelles and Mauritius, and provided insights that can be applied to other small island states.

The project developed and evaluated practical local adaptation and climate compatible development portfolios, facilitated the mainstreaming and scaling-up of adaptation and climate compatible development, established scientific and professional networks and built capacity in the Caribbean.

GIVRAPD had 4 main components:

• Climate Science

Downscaled climate scenarios were developed for the 4 countries and environmental modelling was used to assess the probability of exceeding critical thresholds in key sectors. Sea level rise modelling was ground‐truthed with coastal mapping in each community. This component is led by the University of Oxford and the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

• Community Based Vulnerability Assessment (CBVA)

At each community site, a field team undertook comprehensive community-based vulnerability assessments (CBVA) for tourism, fisheries and agriculture. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with about 150 with community members. Data on vulnerability, exposure sensitivity and adaptive capacity obtained from these interviews has been analysed alongside the climate science modelling to understand future challenges, and community specific adaption options have been proposed.

• Governance

Field work in each community has involved focus group workshops using the Net‐Map protocol, key informant interviews and governance-specific CBVA. A framework was used to identify barriers to planned adaptation at national and community scale. The Global Climate Adaptation Partnership (GCAP) led the governance component of GIVRAPD, supported by the University of Waterloo.

• Micro‐insurance

CaribRM and the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII) at the United Nations University (UNU) led the micro‐insurance component of GIVRAPD. This involved demand analyses through semi‐structured interviews and workshops in the communities, evaluation of potential distribution channels and one‐to‐one meetings with regulators and insurance companies. Demand analysis was conducted by MCII in Jamaica and St Lucia and therefore focussed on the Indian Ocean islands, however workshops have been held in the Caribbean islands.

Project outputs include academic articles, policy briefs and working papers as well as a 30 minute documentary film titled Future Ready? Community Adaptation to Climate Change.

The GIVRAPD website provides more detail on the project, and reports of each element of the research have been posted on the GIVRAPD site’s Resources page, under Project Documents. The site also hosts a large volume of resources relating to climate change in the context of each island state.

Download the research project case study here

Recent update (2013):

The fieldwork is now complete, including the climate science, CBVA, governance components and micro-insurance components. The research summaries are all available on the GIVRAPD website’s resources page.

Documentary footage has been collected across the 4 sites. The footage will be edited, and a storyline written, in the autumn of 2013.

The need and timeliness of the GIVRAPD project has been evident across the small island states within which the project is working, and particularly in the Seychelles. The Seychelles were the first victims of the tropical cyclone, Felleng (27-29 January 2013). The Island of La Digue and the district of Anse Royale, the project’s learning sites, were areas affected by heavy rains, flash floods, falling trees and landslides. Damages amounting to over USD 9 million were reported across the country. The GIVRAPD project has been well received by the Government with the Principal Secretary for Environment and Energy, Mr Wills Agricole delivering the opening at the project’s governance workshop held on Earth Day, 22 April 2013 in the Seychelles. The workshop was reported in the Seychelles Nation.

Lead: The CARIBSAVE Partnership / INTASAVE, Barbados: Dr. Murray Simpson

Partners: Professor Mark New (University of Cape Town); Dr Johanna Wandel, (University of Waterloo); Dr Bhanooduth Lalljee (University of Mauritius); Dr Roger Street, (University of Oxford); Dr Koko Warner, (UNU)/Munich Climate Insurance Initiative; Dr Simon Young (Caribbean Risk Managers Ltd); Dr Thomas E Downing, (Global Climate Adaptation Partnership); E. Crispin, U. I. D’Auvergne, (Government of  Saint Lucia); Mr W Agricole (Meteorological Service of Seychelles); Mr Ronald Jackson (Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management); O. Jadoo, (Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Republic of Mauritius).

CDKN funding: £490,000