Climate change is a global phenomenon that is predicted to disproportionately impact low and
middle income nations and the strata of poor communities within these societies who are least
able to withstand external shocks. These countries are now being propelled towards a
paradigm shift that requires building environmental resilience without jeopardising economic
development goals. There is a growing lobby for building adaptive capacity so that low and
middle income countries will be better prepared to withstand the impacts of climate change
that in turn have implications on economic growth and poverty reduction. Therefore countries
including Sri Lanka have now started to look at ways in which these shifts can be incorporated
into policy and practice.
Adaptive capacity encompasses the capabilities, resources and institutions of a country to
effectively adapt or change its practices and achieve a sustainable balance. Establishing
adaptive capacity cuts across economic, social, cultural, political and environmental sub
sectors made up of a range of interactions involving a wide variety of “actors” from individuals,
firms and civil society, to public bodies, governments and international agencies. These actors
form a cascading system within which decisions and actions flow from policy to practice and
vice versa. Different actors also tend to respond to the same stimuli/problem with different
perspectives depending on their own capacities, agendas or spheres of influence. Therefore
actors and their interactions play a central role in the ability to build adaptive capacity within a
community, a project, a programme, a country. As described in the climate change adaptation
literature, key elements that are seen as critical to adaptive capacity are; ecosystem resilience,
knowledge chains, governance and socio-economic conditions. The several levels of actors and
elements of adaptive capacity form the basis of the conceptual framework that examines the
complex landscape of relationships and how their agendas and actions aid or hinder building
adaptive capacity in the country. The interactions trace the vertical (upward and downward)
and horizontal interactions from policy to practice among the different levels of actors. The
frame identifies four levels of actors as 1) national policy level (dealing with national
environment/climate change policy making), 2) sectoral policy making and implementation
level, 3) civil society level and 4) ground/community/practice level.
The study sample was selected based on combining climate threats, economic sectors, poverty
and vulnerability indicators. Based on this composite, poor communities in coastal areas reliant
on fisheries, agriculture and tourism were ranked as highly vulnerable to climate change.
Livelihoods such as small scale rain fed paddy farmers, small scale fishermen and local informal
tourism service providers are seen as vulnerable groups.