Analysing the Climate Adaptation Needs and State of Readiness in Three Primary Sectors – Agriculture, the Built Environment, and Water

While climate change impacts are visible in all sectors, the negative impacts in the Agriculture, the Built Environment, and Water sectors have stood out as key sites of many climate change-related disasters including floods, prolonged droughts, and wildfires. The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) has commissioned OneWorld to analyse the climate adaptation needs and state of readiness in three primary sectors: Agriculture, the Built Environment, and Water.

The objective of the study includes an analysis of three primary sectors’ institutional arrangements and governance structures, as well as emerging activities and trends to develop priority recommendations to accelerate climate adaptation interventions for each sector.

OneWorld is using a strategic adaptative management approach, to conduct a literature and sectoral review per sector to understand the status of policy and institutional arrangements, current interventions in South Africa, and best practice examples used across the world (in the global North and global South). These reviews will culminate in sectoral reports, which will be validated through stakeholder engagement, and used to inform the development of a Climate Adaptation Needs and State of Readiness Report; and priority recommendations and actions to accelerate the climate adaptation interventions in each sector.

OneWorld will engage in extensive stakeholder consultation as part of an ongoing socialisation process in each sector (including government, business, labour, international development partners, non-governmental organisations, and youth groups). This socialisation process aims to norm climate adaptation discourse and thinking in each sector and build a common ground, from which sector partners can build consensus, and choose and implement adaptation measures in each sector.