Why should we all adapt?
Adaptation themes
Adaptation concepts
Disaster resilience and extremes
Built environment and cities
Major collaborations – Clusters
Journal papers/reports
CSIRO Climate Book
Countries in the Asia and Pacific regions face daunting environmental pressures that threaten economic growth and poverty reduction. Foremost of these challenges are managing the adverse impacts of development, escalating demand for natural resources, and climate change. CSIRO adaptation research contributes to the Australian government's efforts to support our neighbours to manage these challenges, both by delivering project results on-ground and by helping our aid program deliver its outcomes more effectively.
Research for Development Alliance
Agriculture and global change
Adaptive livelihoods and development
Climate change science, products and services
International water research and development
Australia-Indonesia Centre Megatrends
The DFAT-CSIRO Research for Development (R4D) Alliance was a strategic partnership aimed to reduce global poverty by improving the impact of Australia's aid through evidence-based research and capability building within-country partner institutions. The Alliance brought together the research skills of CSIRO and our research partners with the development knowledge and networks of Australian aid in order to support Australia's efforts to reduce global poverty and build the capability of in-country partner institutions. Research efforts for this $22M suite of projects focused on complex global development challenges in the domains of climate, water resources, sustainable cities, and food security. These challenges are dynamic and multi-sectoral, and impact across borders, hitting poor people hardest. Six major projects were implemented over a 4-year period from 2009 and have underpinned partner government initiatives in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Mekong region.
For more information see the Research for Development Alliance website
'Agriculture and global change' includes CSIRO Agriculture's international 'research for development' activity, including research in greenhouse gas mitigation, climate adaptation and innovation systems.
Climate change on key Pacific production systems
Communities in the Pacific Island countries reliant on agriculture-based livelihood systems have been identified as particularly at risk from both climate variability and change. Both adverse climate mean states as well as climatic extremes often result in widespread crop failures, new patterns of pests and diseases, loss of rural livelihoods and in some cases malnutrition. In the future as climatic mean states and extremes change this may result in lack of appropriate seed and plant material, inappropriate farm practises, loss of livestock and potential loss of arable land.
Recent shortfalls in Pacific agricultural production resulting from changing export markets, commodity prices, climatic variation, population growth and urbanisation, have provided insights into the potential scale of regional food insecurity that could occur. To date there have been limited activities in the Pacific to improve food production through enhanced climate resilience, particularly where farm management practise is adjusted to account for both climate variability and change.
Women play a critical role in agriculture in terms of subsistence farming and growing cash crops for markets. Their role is critical in terms of planting, managing and harvesting of crops, especially in staple crops. However, often technological on-farming solutions and trainings focus on men in the Pacific. Engaging women in programmes to understand their needs, priorities and concerns will be critical to ensuring agriculture becomes more resilient to changes and shocks within the Pacific, and to ensuring sustainability of the farming system of staples.
The aim of this project is to understand the impact of climate change on key Pacific production systems – specifically those based on the staple root crops, such as sweet potato, taro and cassava. To achieve this aim, the project will adhere to a number of objectives. These include:
To understand the responses of sweet potato, cassava and taro crops to existing environmental drivers (climate, soil and nutrient interactions).
To understand the responses of sweet potato, cassava and taro crops to enhanced CO2
To develop and enhance the capacity to model crop and cropping system responses for these three pacific staples (within the APSIM framework).
To identify promising strategies for farming systems adaptation to respond to both climate variability and change, with both men and women as a key focus as actors.
To examine the economic value of specific operational seasonal climate forecasts (SCF) in supporting agronomic management decisions for the production of these three Pacific staples.
For more information contact Steve Crimp.
Food Systems Innovation
Food Systems Innovation is a research for development initiative, with the aim of supporting continuous innovation in the Australian agriculture and food aid program by assisting projects and programs to share lessons and connect with up to-date international experience and good practice. It started as a partnership between Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and CSIRO. This partnership has now ended and CSIRO is hosting the website.
For more information contact Andrew Hall or check out the Food Systems Innovation website.
Attaining climate compatible development for vulnerable rural communities demands an alternative approach to planning and decision making based on adaptation pathways principles (e.g. identifying 'no regrets' strategies). However, this requires existing development planning to transform and apply practices and structures in common with adaptive co-management, which is challenging in developing countries with limited stakeholder capacity and entrenched power dynamics.
Climate Adaptation Strategies for Rural Livelihoods in Nusa Tengarra Province, eastern Indonesia
Building capacity for sustainable and responsible development in the Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
Livelihood Futures – Papua New Guinea
Climate Risk Management special issue
For more information contact James Butler
Climate change science
CSIRO is providing critical climate scientific research, user-friendly products and capacity building services in South East Asia and 15 Pacific countries.
Pacific Climate Change Program website
Pacific Climate Change Portal
High resolution climate projections for Vietnam
Regional Climate Projections Consortium and Data Facility for Asia and the Pacific
CSIRO unveils ADB project to set up regional climate projections consortium and data facility in Asia and the Pacific (July 2015)
Planning for water supply in Makassar, Indonesia
Philippine Climate Change Adaptation Project
For more information contact Kevin Hennessy, Jack Katzfey, Dewi Kirono and Geoff Gooley
The aim of this work is to increase access to safe water and inform policies and strategies that support effective water resource management.
Read about current work in International water and development at CSIRO
For more information contact Peter Wallbrink
The Australia-Indonesia Centre (AIC) was formed in 2014 to strengthen and deepen Australia-Indonesia business, government, education, research, and community links. It has the goal of 'building greater research collaboration between Australia and Indonesia in areas of shared challenge. CSIRO was invited by the AIC to assist with the Cluster planning process by applying its 'foresighting' approach, which can analyse key trends in each theme (Agriculture and Food, Infrastructure, Health, and Energy) towards 2030 and beyond.
Australia-Indonesia Centre Megatrends: Agriculture and Food Report
Australia-Indonesia Centre Megatrends: Agriculture and Food Factsheet
Australia-Indonesia Centre Megatrends: Infrastructure Report
Australia-Indonesia Centre Megatrends: Infrastructure Factsheet
Australia-Indonesia Centre Megatrends: Health Report
Australia-Indonesia Centre Megatrends: Health Factsheet
Australia-Indonesia Centre Megatrends: Energy Report
Australia-Indonesia Centre Megatrends: Energy Factsheet
Current CSIRO research
Some key current CSIRO links that are relevant to climate adaptation research include:
Current CSIRO climate and climate adaptation work and links from here
Climate change in Australia website (main source for climate data and a partial adaptation portal)
Evaluating Adaptation Pathways current research site
Adaptation for NRM Groups website
The CSIRO News and ECOS blogs contain stories about climate adaptation and research.
For more information please contact Dr Mark Stafford Smith.
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