Integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Seychelles: Challenges and proposed strategies

Abstract

Integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) has gained traction among scientists and development practitioners, given their complementary benefits of reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing the resilience of ecosystems, livelihoods and protection of assets while concomitantly enabling the achievements of the Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework on DRR. However, guidance on integrating climate and disaster risk is poorly understood because of insufficient scholarship. Although common concerns exist, the effective integration of DRR and CCA faces diverse challenges in various countries and contexts, and no study has addressed this topic in the Indian Ocean Region and Seychelles. To address this knowledge gap, a content analysis of relevant policies and strategies and in-depth interviews with 40 stakeholders were conducted to identify the challenges of integrating DRR and CCA alongside their proposed strategy for improvement. Barriers that impede the effective mainstreaming of DRR and CCA include issues about (1) governance and politics; (2) policy integration; (3) competing actors and institutions; (4) coordination and collaboration; (5) resources and funding mechanism; (6) scale mismatches; (7) implementation and mainstreaming; (8) community involvement; and (9) information, communication and knowledge sharing. This study reveals that structural coherence was weak on the strategic rather than conceptual levels, leading to poor institutional, operational and financial coordination. This led to incidental integration and collaboration happening on an ad hoc basis with the Disaster Risk Management Division positioned towards emergency preparedness and response. Proposed recommendations to enhance DRR and CCA integration are provided.

Contribution: This study serves as a guide for Seychelles and other countries on how to effectively link DRR and CCA to minimise duplication of efforts and enhance the efficient use of human and financial resources while concomitantly achieving the objectives of DRR – to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience.