Progress in climate adaptation cannot be measured solely through databases, indicators and research papers. There is now a wealth of experience in implementing adaptation. This insight is needed to support a maturing climate adaptation landscape, that is still grappling with how to position itself in relation to socio-economic and development challenges in low and middle income countries.

This seminar unpacks a range of successful climate adaptation outcomes as seen from the perspective of practitioners working at the coalface across government, civil society and the private sectors in South Africa. What emerges is not the successful “projects” but how climate adaptation has been embedded in different ways. Prof. Ziervogel argues that this institutionalisation is central to supporting a development-focused approach to climate adaptation that is more likely to be sustainable.

About the speaker

The lecture will be given by Professor Gina Ziervogel, Professor in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science and Director of the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) at the University of Cape Town. Trained as a geographer, she has over 25 years of experience working on climate adaptation and vulnerability to global environmental change.

Her work engages with actors across scales —from neighbourhoods and NGOs to cities, provinces and national governments— with a focus on understanding how governance, development and inequality shape opportunities to respond to climate risks.