Can institutions reduce the vulnerability to climate change? A study on the char lands of Assam, India

Studies taking into account numerous aspects of climate change, disaster, and risk are necessary in order to emphasize the diverse issues such as threats to human lives, their asset base, and their livelihood vulnerability etc. that people confront in different regions. This study explores how institutions may help char dwellers, who reside in Assam, India's flood-prone and erosion-affected areas, become less vulnerable to climate change. The study measures the char dwellers' vulnerability to climate change using the adjusted livelihood vulnerability index (ALVI). The study also evaluates the quality and efficiency of the char institutions in raising the adaptability of the char inhabitants using the adaptive capacity wheel (ACW) and the generalized linear model (GLM). The study finds that the physical circumstances such as geographical location and structure of the char and social circumstances such as different socio-cultural and ethnic belongings of char residents place them at high risk and making the char institutions ineffective and performing unevenly among locations. The GLM result shows that institutions play a substantial role in reducing vulnerability. Land ownership, hazard prevention, and adaptation measures are all important variables in lowering their risk. The study suggests that boosting the char dwellers' resilience requires cooperation and diversity across different types of institutions.