Need for Local Participation to Adapt to Climate Change: Case Study Thailand - COP 17

Mekong River. Photo by Dirk Huijsson (Creative Commons)

Abstract

Climate change impacts are becoming more obvious and the challenge of addressing the need to adapt becomes more urgent. Those impacts add to the complexity of local livelihood security. The paper investigates the extent to which communities in Tha Uthane District, Nakhon Phanom Province, northeastern Thailand, have been exposed to climate risks and how local mechanisms have increased their adaptive capacity to manage the risks. From sustainable livelihood perspectives, household assets - natural, social, financial, physical and human capitals - are sensitive to climate change. Local traditions of farming and fishing as an alternative means of living as well as social safety nets, kinship and locally self-organised networks have proved to increase their adaptive capacity and significantly provide safeguards. Government’s responses under the relief and compensation policy are perceived necessary for a short term, but due to them being on an ad-hoc basis and without local participation, they are not sufficient to effectively maintain local livelihoods and respond to risks in a long term. The paper concludes that democratisation through local participation in decision making process can ensure long term climate adaptation and change the structures governing decision making and access over natural resources in such a way that favours local sustainability objectives.