Climate change vulnerability analysis and adaptation advice for Algeria

Algeria is the largest country in Africa by land area and is the most populous country in the Maghreb. Algeria’s natural resources are increasingly pressured as a result of economic and population growth and climate change – especially in the fertile north of the country, where 68 per cent of the country’s population lives on a fifth of its land area. For that reason, the Algerian Ministry for the Environment and Land-Use Planning attaches great significance to climate change adaptation.

In order to design the adaptation measures in a goal-oriented and effective way, a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) was developed with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The national vulnerability analysis (VA) identifies overarching priorities and especially endangered regions. 

In the course of the project, adelphi advised the Algerian Environment Ministry and the GIZ on defining exact goals, selecting adequate methods and scheduling. Special attention was paid to ensuring full justice to the country’s diverse natural and climate zones with their varying development prospects and climate risks. On this basis, the technical specifications for international support in implementing the vulnerability analysis has been developed. Additionally, a workshop investigated the impact of the application of the new risk concepts from the fifth IPCC Climate Report on the methods of the vulnerability analysis (based on the Vulnerability Sourcebook).