This paper reviews 41 National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) submitted by Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and identifies the range of interventions included in countries’ priority adaptation actions. The review found near-universal recognition among the NAPAs of the importance of population considerations as a central pillar in climate change adaptation.

Studies of vulnerability and resilience have multiplied with the growing realization that societal response, particularly societal capacity to adapt to climate change impacts, determines both the severity of impacts and the costs of adaptation. Although research in vulnerability and resilience began by emphasizing vulnerability, the focus has shifted at least in part to resilience as a positive concept that can be more integrated with general development goals.

Population Action International’s latest working paper, Projecting Population, Projecting Climate Change: Population in IPCC Scenarios, shows that population growth is not adequately accounted for in the emissions scenarios produced by the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This is the second in a three part series that explores role of population dynamics in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Population growth is one of the driving forces behind the growth of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, along with economic growth and technological change. Rapid population growth also hinders socioeconomic development and increases human vulnerability to the devastating impacts of climate change. Population Action International’s new working paper “How Do Recent Population Trends Matter to Climate Change?” is the first in a three-part series that will deepen understanding of the relationships between population and climate change.