The Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change study (EACC) will inform the international community’s efforts to provide new and additional resources to developing countries through a better understanding of the global costs of adapting to climate change. It will also help decision makers at the national level to better cost, prioritize, sequence and integrate robust adaptation strategies into their development plans and budgets.

Why Mozambique?

Mozambique located on Africa’s Southeastern coast has a population of more than 15 million. Agriculture is one of the mainstays of its economy and contributes to 40 percent of the nation’s GDP. Fisheries are a crucial livelihood, employing around 60,000 people and representing about 40 percent of the total export earnings.

Mozambique is prone to severe droughts every 3 to 4 years that have contributed to about 4,000 deaths between 1980 and 2000. The country is also victim to floods caused by tropical cyclones that pass over Mozambique 3 or 4 times a year. 

The Government of Mozambique has conducted research that suggests that the country’s mean air temperatures will rise by 1.8 to 3.2°C by 2075. Rainfall will also decline by 2 to 9 percent, especially between November and May—the key growing season.

According to IPCC projections from 2007, climate change is likely to alter the frequency and intensity of cyclones, extreme rainfall and temperature in Africa.

EACC in Mozambique

Eleven donors are under-taking climate change and adaptation-related technical assistance and capacity building activities in Mozambique. There is major scope for building on the study Impact of Climate Change on Disaster Risk and Adaptation, funded by DANIDA, GTZ and UNDP and implemented by the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management (INGC).

This study proposes to follow a methodology similar to that of the EACC study. The EACC study may complement the INGC study by providing a costing of adaptation measures; an element which will help the international community calculate the cost of providing adequate support to help Mozambique and other developing countries.

The EACC study team is working with the World Bank’s Africa Region on the study. This collaboration will help build on ongoing operations and relations already established in Ethiopia.