Climate Change : Adaptation and Vulnerability

At the time of writing the picture is still not clear as to what the implications of the Bali talks are. However, various official documents give an insight into some of the debates and talking points. An example is this UNFCCC report on Impacts, Vulnerabilities and Adaptation in Developing Countries.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change report is sobering reading indeed. Quite apart from the dire warnings of the dangers now faced by poorer people around the world the introduction suggests conservative estimates of the coming costs - by 2030 it is estimated that developing countries will require USD 28-67 billion in funds to enable adaptation to climate change. Remember, this is just an early estimate of likely ongoing costs for adaptation in the developing world, this is before we talk about the necessary mitigation measures.
Over the next few days it will become clear what the implications of the Bali meetings are - and the corresponding size of the task for campaigners and NGOs. One thing is already clear, the current US administration continued throughout the summit to be a major blockage on the route to even barely adequate international measures to tackle the defining issue of our times.