AdaptNet for 19 April 2011

1. Sea Level Rise, Coastal Development and Planned Retreat

2. Risk and Resilience in Three Southeast Asian Areas

3. Climate Change – Global Report on Human Settlements

4. Frankston City Council Climate Change Adaptation Plan

5. Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Systems

6. 2011 VCCCAR Annual Forum, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

Sea Level Rise, Coastal Development and Planned Retreat

The paper develops an analytical framework for exploring planned retreat from the sea behind natural ecological defences. It applies this framework to South East Queensland, Australia. The paper proposes five guiding principles to implement planned retreat: (a) allocate authority and resources; (b) strengthen development rules and incentives to relocate; (c) allow for uncertainties by enabling rules and incentives; (d) reassign public and private benefits, costs, risks; and (e) institutionalise catastrophes as opportunities for change, not signals to rebuild.

Sea Level Rise, Coastal Development and Planned Retreat: Analytical Framework, Governance Principles and an Australian Case Study, Nick Abel et al., Environmental Science and Policy, vol. 14, issue 3, pp. 279-288, May 2011 [subscription required]

Risk and Resilience in Three Southeast Asian Areas

This paper investigates the security impacts of climate change in three Southeast Asian cross-border areas: the Greater Mekong Subregion; the Heart of Borneo; and the Coral Triangle. It evaluates regional agreements and actions in each of the three areas with an emphasis on the mainstreaming of climate adaptation and mitigation in the development agenda. The paper points to the importance of reaching out to other actors (beyond state and intergovernmental) if adaptation and mitigation efforts are to succeed.

Risk and Resilience in Three Southeast Asian Cross-boarder Areas: The Greater Mekong Subregion, the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle, Fitrian Ardiansyah and Desak Putu Adhityani Putri, Asia Security Initiative Policy Series: Working Paper No. 11, Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, Singapore, February 2011 [745 KB, PDF]

Climate Change – Global Report on Human Settlements

The report reviews the linkages between urbanisation and climate change (two of the greatest challenges currently facing humanity in the 21st Century). It illustrates the significant contribution of urban areas to climate change while at the same time highlighting the potentially devastating effects of climate change on urban populations. The report argues that urban areas have a pivotal role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation and identifies strategies and approaches for strengthening this role.

Cities and Climate Change: Policy Directions – Global Report on Human Settlements 2011 (Abridged Version), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), Earthscan, 2011 [2.05 MB, PDF]

Frankston City Council Climate Change Adaptation Plan

The paper provides information on the projected impacts and risks specific to Frankston City Council in Victoria, Australia. It develops an adaptation plan which provides a framework and guide to: (1) facilitate action by Frankston City Council in its operations and services to prepare for the impacts of climate change; (2) provide information and assistance to the community to reduce their vulnerability and facilitate an adaptive response to climate change impacts.

Draft Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Plan – Frankston City Council, Frankston City Council’s Climate Change Taskforce, Frankston City Council, Frankston, Victoria, Australia, February 2011 [678 KB, PDF]

Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Systems

This paper presents an overview of the causes and predicted effects of climate change and the relationships between climate change and urban systems. It offers an informed understanding and illustration of adaptation as a climate change response, its use in urban systems, and some of the roles and strategies that planning may take in developing and implementing urban adaptation. The paper goes on to consider the need for top-down planning policy to support climate adaptation as a planning issue.

Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Systems: Strategies for Planning Regimes, Tony Matthews, Research Paper 32, Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia, February 2011 [658 KB, PDF]

2011 VCCCAR Annual Forum, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

The 2011 VCCCAR Annual Forum will take place in Bendigo (Victoria), Australia from 2-3 May 2011. The Forum aims to promote interaction within the VCCCAR research community for assisting the Victorian government and community to better adapt to the impacts of climate change. Registration form, program and additional information are available from the VCCCAR website: www.vcccar.org.au

2011 VCCCAR Annual Forum, Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research (VCCCAR), Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 2-3 May 2011

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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

Saleem Janjua, editor AdaptNet.