Bridging the Gap: Assessing the Integration of Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction - A Case Study on Nepal

Abstract: There are two primary purposes of this study. One is theory development and the other is empirical. The first aim will be conducted by proposing a framework for the integrated approach between Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. The empirical purpose will be conducted by applying the framework on Nepal’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Numerous scholars and researchers have conducted research regarding why an integrated approach between DRR and CCA is favourable for the development in reducing vulnerability in areas and countries which are heavily affected by climate-related disasters. Although multiple convergences, there still exist certain obstacles and differences across the approaches. These include separation in institutions and actors, financial mechanisms, the gap between typologies and terminology and spatial scale differences. The main findings that can be gathered from this study is that Nepal's NAP includes many objectives and aspects which is pointing towards that the Integrated Approach is becoming more evident in today's DRR and CCA efforts. The areas which lacked the most in the NAP was the centralisation of poverty reduction and a lack of details regarding how and by whom many of the objectives and activities were planned to be implemented.