This document aims to improve understanding about adaptation to climate change within development agencies, their partners and the other institutions and individuals working in the development community. In particular, it hopes to stimulate broader engagement and debate on key issues around development and climate change adaptation, which have largely remained within a separate group of specialists working specifically on climate change. The report finds that:development agencies need to raise awareness among partners and make their programmes more resilient to the impacts of climate change. They also need to advocate for action by others on climate change and adaptationdevelopment NGOs will need to plan their adaptation activities carefully to ensure that they are consistent with poverty reduction policies, plans and programmes. This may require a strategic review of the role of adaptation in their programmes, as well as supporting mainstreaming activities in developing countriesthe focus of international negotiations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on climate change, rather than current climate variability, may not be helpful to development NGOs. Organisations should engage with the debate so they can emphasise that the separation is not helpful in practical terms on the ground for poor and vulnerable groups. They can link climate change to other related areas such as disaster risk reduction and sustainable developmentvulnerable groups must work on climate change adaptation from the starting point of current variability. Integrating the impacts of future changes into vulnerability reduction remains a significant challenge at policy and strategic levels, as well as in communities and households.