1. Proposed National Adaptation Assessment Framework
2. New Deal for Urban Australia – Governance Arrangements
3. Barriers and Enablers to Organisational Adaptive Capacity
4. Environmental Policy-making in New Zealand, 1978-2013
5. Climate Co-Benefits Initiatives in Urban Asia
6. Workshop on Climate Change Impact and Societal Adaptation
Proposed National Adaptation Assessment Framework
This report proposes a national assessment framework for Australia to assess progress in adapting to the impacts of climate change. It extends the framework to the coastal zone as an example of how progress in managing the impacts of unavoidable climate change might be assessed for a specific sector. The report helps shape climate change response that is needed by business, government and communities.
Climate Adaptation Outlook: A Proposed National Adaptation Assessment Framework, Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, Commonwealth of Australia, 2013 [4.15 MB, PDF]
New Deal for Urban Australia – Governance Arrangements
The paper represents the views of Urban Coalition (a broad-based coalition of stakeholders) which proposes a major investment in urban Australia to improve national quality of life and economic competitiveness. It argues that the role of Infrastructure Australia needs to be strengthened and deepened to help ensure that for every dollar invested by the government in infrastructure across portfolios, the best possible return is achieved for tax-payers and investors.
A New Deal for Urban Australia, Urban Coalition, Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA), Australia, April 2013 [1.43 MB, PDF]
Barriers and Enablers to Organisational Adaptive Capacity
The report improves confidence in the findings of 2010-11 research (UK’s first Climate Change Risk Assessment – CCRA) and assists the effective delivery of climate adaptation information. It assesses what hinders, and what might help, the development of adaptive capacity of organisations in Britain – the extent to which they are able to make well-informed, long-term decisions that make them more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
PREPARE – Barriers and Enablers to Organisational and Sectoral Adaptive Capacity – Qualitative Study (Part of the PREPARE Programme of Research on Preparedness, Adaptation and Risk), David Ballard et al., Report for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK, June 2013 [1.28 MB, PDF]
Environmental Policy-making in New Zealand, 1978-2013
The article draws on the author’s experience with the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) since 1978 which examines the ways in which key environmental policies have been made in the past, and reflects on the present state of play with respect to these policies. The issues covered are: government agencies; climate change; oceans; freshwater; and resource management law. The article aims to study if the past illuminates the present in any useful way.
Environmental Policy-making in New Zealand, 1978-2013, Gary Taylor, Policy Quarterly, vol. 9, issue 3, pp. 18-27, August 2013
Climate Co-Benefits Initiatives in Urban Asia
The paper examines the main obstacles, opportunities and challenges to implementation of environmental co-benefit related policies in urban areas. It focuses primarily upon sub-national processes, particularly in cities in developing countries, but it also looks into the links of sub-national processes to national and international processes. The paper offers a series of lessons for understanding projects and policies that generate co-benefits and the factors that influence them.
Learning How to Align Climate, Environmental and Development Objectives in Cities: Lessons from the Implementation of Climate Co-Benefits Initiatives in Urban Asia, Jose A. Puppim de Oliveira, Journal of Cleaner Production, In-press, Available Online 16 August 2013 [subscription required]
Workshop on Climate Change Impact and Societal Adaptation
This workshop (International Workshop on Climate Change Impact and Societal Adaptation) will take place at Central University of Rajasthan, India from November 06, 2013 to November 08, 2013. It aims to strengthen the understanding of climate change impacts and link scientific insights to planning and policy for promoting sustainability. Papers may be submitted by August 31, 2013.
International Workshop on Climate Change Impact and Societal Adaptation, Central University of Rajasthan, India, November 6-8, 2013 [545 KB, PDF]
For further information, please contact the editor, Saleem Janjua: daptnet@rmit.edu.au
Professor Darryn McEvoy, Program Leader, RMIT University Climate Change Adaptation Programme
Professor Peter Hayes, Co-founder and Executive Director of Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability
Dr. Saleem Janjua, Editor, AdaptNet
AdaptNet is a free fortnightly report produced by RMIT University Global Cities Research Institute’s Climate Change Adaptation Programme, Melbourne, Australia. It is published in partnership with the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability.