AdaptNet for 10 July 2007

1. Climate Change Impacts on Victoria’s Infrastructure
2. California – Climate Action Team Report
3. Evaluating Climate Policy Frameworks and Proposals
4. Linking Climate Change and Sustainable Development
5. Climate Change Adaptation by Design – A Guide
6. Climate Change Action Africa 2007 – Conference

1. Climate Change Impacts on Victoria’s Infrastructure

The report, first of its kind in Australia, examines the likely impacts of climate change on Victoria’s infrastructure such as; water, power, telecommunications, transport and buildings. It establishes the categories of infrastructure most at risk and outlines opportunities for adaptation responses. The report also details the current governance structures associated with each infrastructure type. 

Climate Change and Infrastructure – Planning Ahead, CSIRO, Maunsell Australia Pty Ltd and Philips Fox, Department of Sustainability and Environment, The Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2007

2. California – Climate Action Team Report

The report provides an evaluation of the impacts of climate change on California, the potential adaptation measures that can be taken to best respond to those impacts, and an economic assessment of the impacts. It discusses all possible emission reduction implementation options. The report looks specifically at potential impacts on minority and low-income communities.

Climate Action Team Report to Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature, Alan C. Lloyd, Ph.D. et al., California Climate Action Team, California Environmental Protection Agency, March 2006 [PDF]

3. Evaluating Climate Policy Frameworks and Proposals

The report analyses six approaches to a post-Kyoto climate regime. They include: Contraction and Convergence, Climate Action Network’s “Viable Framework”, South-North Dialogue’s “Equity in the Greenhouse” Proposal, Greenhouse Development Rights, the Vattenfall Proposal and the Global Climate Certificate System. The report evaluates each proposal in terms of its potential modifiability and its likely overall performance in terms of adequacy and equity.

Frameworks & Proposals: A Brief, Adequacy and Equity-Based Evaluation of Some Prominent Climate Policy Frameworks and Proposals, Paul Baer and Tom Athanasiou, Global Issue Papers, No.30, Heinrich Böll Foundation, June 2007 [PDF]

4. Linking Climate Change and Sustainable Development

This paper demonstrates the need for the climate change and development communities to improve communications and find ways to work together. It underlines the relevance of climate change issues to development policy-makers and practitioners. The paper stresses the need for climate change experts to increase the level to which climate change impacts, particularly on the world’s poor, are incorporated into their discourses and planning.

Climate Change and Development Links, Saleemul Huq, Hannah Reid and Laurel A. Murray, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods Program, Natural Resources Group, International Institute for Environment and Development (iied), 2006 [PDF]

5. Climate Change Adaptation by Design – A Guide

The guide illustrates how adaptation can be integrated into the planning, design and development of new and existing communities. It aims to help planners, developers, architects and urban designers in the public and private sectors develop better understanding of climate risks, demonstrate effective climate adaptation strategies and consider the role of the planning system, communities, other stakeholders and delivery bodies.

Climate Change Adaptation by Design – A Guide for Sustainable Communities, Robert Shaw, Michelle Colley and Richenda Connell, Town and Country Planning Association, London, 2007 [PDF]

6. Climate Change Action Africa 2007 – Conference

The conference brings together environmentalists to discuss new ways of addressing climate change and global warming. It focuses on integrating environmental issues in yearly planning, improving capacity for climate monitoring / forecasting, introducing sustainable and renewable sources of energy and managing threats to food security and economy. For further information, please visit the address given below.

Climate Change Action Africa – 2007: Adaptation Policies & Strategies for Sustainable Development in Africa, International Quality and Productivity Center (IQPC), Gallagher Estate, Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, August 28 – 30, 2007

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AdaptNet is a free weekly report produced by RMIT University Global Cities Institute’s Climate Change Adaptation Working Group. It is produced in partnership with the Victorian Government’s Department of Sustainability and Environment and the Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society at Melbourne University, Australia.

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For further information, please contact the editor, Saleem Janjua.