The human dimension of climate change; revisiting the Commission on Climate Change and Development in the polycrisis context

In 2007, the Government of Sweden launched the international Commission on Climate Change and Development (CCCD), chaired by its Minister for International Development Cooperation, at a time when adaptation was not given the same weight as mitigation in multilateral negotiations. The purpose was to promote adaptation as an integral part of the international development agenda and to evoke the “human dimension” of climate change, focusing on strengthening local capacities of vulnerable communities. Upon completion of the CCCD’s work, the Swedish Government committed to implement its recommendations, leading to the 2009–2012 Climate Change Initiative (CCI), when SEK 4 billion (appr USD 600 million) were spent supporting a range of bilateral and multilateral programmes in least developed countries. A recent independent evaluation found that the CCI contributed to significant and sustained progress in integrating climate, disaster risk reduction and mainstream development practices at different levels of governance. This essay explores how the achievements of the CCCD were due in part to its proximity to government decision-making, and in part to its timing, coinciding with new climate finance mechanisms and the Swedish EU presidency. It argues that the increasing intensity and complexity of climate impacts, in a context of polycrisis, calls for the creation of an international body that would mirror the work of the CCCD on a permanent basis. This body would monitor, analyse and address the human dimension of climate change and other crises, with a special focus on compound, cascading and cross-border risks that have rapid and systemic effects at all scales.