AdaptNet for 8 February 2011

1. Resilience and Water Security in Two Australian Regional Cities

2. Quantifying Vulnerability to Climate Change

3. Weighing the Human Costs of Disasters

4. Adaptation, Mitigation and Risk-Taking in Climate Policy

5. Vietnam’s Climate Change Strategy – Procedural Critique

6. World Planning Schools Congress 2011 – Perth, Western Australia 

Resilience and Water Security in Two Australian Regional Cities               

The report explores the adaptive capacity of two Australian regional cities (Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and Broken Hill in New South Wales) facing different challenges relating to climate change and water security. It develops a resilient regions assessment process to produce a complex adaptive systems framework to evaluate water issues. The report provides a range of water security future scenarios that could assist in planning for and adapting to climate change in the two cities.

Resilience and Water Security in Two Outback Cities, Albrecht, G., Allison, H., Ellis, N. and Jaceglav, M., Report for the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF), Gold Coast, Australia, 2010 [3.39 MB, PDF]

Quantifying Vulnerability to Climate Change  

This paper quantifies the vulnerability of 233 countries to three major effects of climate change (weather-related disasters, sea-level rise, and reduced agricultural productivity). It develops a methodology for donors and others to craft cost-effective assistance for climate adaptation. The paper includes two sample applications: assistance for the 20 island states to adapt to sea-level rise; and general assistance for all low-income countries to adapt to extreme weather changes, sea-level rise, and reduced agricultural productivity.

Quantifying Vulnerability to Climate Change: Implications for Adaptation Assistance, David Wheeler, Center for Global Development Working Paper No. 240, January 2011 [1.22 MB, PDF]

Weighing the Human Costs of Disasters        

The paper reviews the costs and psychological consequences of disasters for individuals, families, and communities. It proposes five key points: disasters cause serious psychological harm in a minority of exposed individuals; disasters produce multiple patterns of outcome; disaster outcomes depend on a combination of risk and resilience factors; disasters put families, neighborhoods, and communities at risk; and the remote effects of a disaster in unexposed populations are generally limited and transient.

Weighing the Costs of Disaster: Consequences, Risks, and Resilience in Individuals, Families, and Communities, George A. Bonanno et al., Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1-49, DOI: 10.1177/1529100610387086, January 2011 [655 KB, PDF]

 Adaptation, Mitigation and Risk-Taking in Climate Policy      

The paper discusses the contributions to global mitigation in a model with risk-taking behaviour. It extends the model by allowing for adaptation as a second strategy of climate policy. The paper considers that adaptation in climate policy is beneficial for a single country not only because it reduces the risk from climate change, but also because it affects the behavior of other countries.

Adaptation, Mitigation and Risk-Taking in Climate Policy, Heike Auerswald, Kai A. Konrad and Marcel Thum, CESifo Working Paper No. 3320, CESifo Energy and Climate Economics, January 2011 [553 KB, PDF]     

Vietnam’s Climate Change Strategy – Procedural Critique   

This article asks through what processes and for which interests the emerging Vietnamese climate change strategy is being designed, and if, ultimately, it is likely or not to be effective in the face of the looming threat. It argues that the strategy provides an illusion of intervention and security, but largely fails to identify and mitigate the underlying causes of climate change, or to lay the ground for a robust mid- and long-term adaptation strategy.

Taking A Climate Chance: A Procedural Critique of Vietnam’s Climate Change Strategy, François Fortier, Asia Pacific Viewpoint; Vol. 51, Issue 3: pp. 229-247, DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2010.01428.x, November 2010 [subscription required] 

World Planning Schools Congress 2011 – Perth, Western Australia

This congress (WPSC 2011) will take place from 4-8 July 2011 in Perth, Western Australia. It features a total of 20 planning tracks, including: climate change, risk, adaptation, and planning. Professor Darryn McEvoy, Leader of the Climate Change Adaptation Programme at RMIT University, amongst others, will co-convene a session on ‘planning for a changing climate’ at the WPSC 2011. For registration and other details, please go to the congress website below.      

World Planning Schools Congress 2011 (WPSC 2011), The Perth Convention Exhibition Centre (PCEC), Hosted by the University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 4-8 July 2011

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Professor Darryn McEvoy, Program Leader, RMIT University Climate Change Adaptation Programme

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Saleem Janjua, editor AdaptNet.