Emerging results from Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE)

The Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) initiative is co-funded by IDRC and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). A transition into CLARE (2019-2021) was designed to work with participants from previous climate programming on scaling of climate resilience in the Global South, while IDRC and FCDO prepared to expand the partnership. 

This transition supported 17 projects for a total value of CAD7 million. The projects covered a wide variety of work on climate adaptation and resilience, with a focus on getting existing research and knowledge into use. Projects included scaling research-into-use in Senegal, reducing health risks of rising temperatures in India, and catalyzing climate action in semi-arid Namibia, among others. 

Scaling impact of adaptation and resilience research 

CLARE projects have had an impact despite their relatively short duration and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This rapid progress was in part a result of building on activities from previous programs, enabling CLARE to capitalise on existing relationships within research teams and with key stakeholders.  

CLARE has contributed to leading-edge thinking on climate, bringing together empirical results to distill insights on climate risk, migration and effectiveness. For example, recent peer-reviewed articles recognise how to support resilience for both migrants and those left behind, identify principles for assessing the global goal on adaptation, and enrich the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) framework by adding how people and societies respond to climate change. CLARE also contributed to practical climate action, such as informing the Kenyan Nationally Determined Contributions to now include mangrove and seagrass conservation.  

Stories of CLARE impact  

Many exciting stories have emerged from these transition projects, including supporting the 6th IPCC assessment report, strengthening capacities of researchers and putting locals at the centre of environmental conservation. Read the stories below for more information: 

• IDRC support to African authors helps produce strong IPCC assessment of African climate evidence 

• Strengthening the capacities of early-career scientists in West Africa 

• Centering local people in Madagascar’s forest conservation 

Further CLARE funding announced at COP26 

An additional five-year investment in CLARE was announced at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in November 2021. To learn more about upcoming research calls, visit the CLARE webpage on the IDRC website.