AdaptNet for 2 December 2008

1. Estimating Changes in Sea-Level Extremes
2. Cities, Innovation and Built Environment
3. Impacts of Europe’s Changing Climate: New Assessment
4. Policies for Funding a Response to Climate Change
5. Integrating DRR into Climate Adaptation: Gender Perspectives
6. Conference on Energy and Sustainability – Bologna, Italy

1. Estimating Changes in Sea-Level Extremes       

By using Australian data as an example, this paper observes present sea-level extremes with the (uncertain) projections of sea-level rise. It suggests a way of estimating the probability that a given sea level will be exceeded during the present century, and how planning levels should be raised to accommodate an acceptable flooding risk.            

Ways of Estimating Changes in Sea-Level Extremes under Conditions of Rising Sea Level, John Hunter, IPWEA National Conference on Climate Change Response, Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA), Australia, August 2008 [109 KB, PDF]

2. Cities, Innovation and Built Environment 

The paper identifies current and emerging innovation issues and challenges for the urban commercial and residential built environment. It assesses what a ‘sustainable urban built environment’ might look like in 10-20 years and how the Australian built environment industry may need to innovate to address the Government’s policy agenda for sustainability.            

Innovation and the City: Challenges for the Built Environment Industry, Simon Pinnegar, Jane Marceau and Bill Randolph, Issue Paper No. 7, City Future Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, July 2008 [508 KB, PDF] 

3. Impacts of Europe’s Changing Climate: New Assessment      

This report is an update of the 2004 EEA Report ‘Impacts of Europe’s Changing Climate’, which presents new information on climate change in Europe. It identifies the sectors and regions most vulnerable to climate change with a need for adaptation. The report highlights the need to enhance monitoring and reduce uncertainties in climate and impact modeling.         

Impacts of Europe’s Changing Climate – 2008 Indicator-based Assessment, Joint EEA-JRC-WHO Report, European Environment Agency (EEA), Copenhagen, Denmark, 29 September 2008

4. Policies for Funding a Response to Climate Change   

The paper emphasizes that a significant increase in public funding for climate change research and development (R&D) is needed in the United States. It considers different possibilities for generating additional public revenues for R&D funding. The paper finds that quite modest taxes on carbon emissions or gasoline could fund a significant increase in public R&D funding for clean energy.             

Policies for Funding a Response to Climate Change, Brian Roach, Working Paper No. 08-03, Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts University, USA, July 2008 [330 KB, PDF]   

5. Integrating DRR into Climate Adaptation: Gender Perspectives      

The report demonstrates the link between disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation, while contributing to the global effort to promote gender equality in socio-economic development. It highlights initiatives that have successfully used disaster risk reduction as a tool to adapt to climate change and reduce risk and vulnerabilities in various parts of the world.          

Gender Perspectives: Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction into Climate Change Adaptation – Good Practices and Lessons Learned, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), 2008 [3.29 MB, PDF]

6. Conference on Energy and Sustainability – Bologna, Italy      

This Conference will bring together researchers and practitioners from academia, industry and government interested in topics related to the energy systems including; sustainability in energy production, energy storage and distribution, and energy management.

Second International Conference on Energy and Sustainability, Wessex Institute of Technology-UK, and University of New Mexico-USA, Bologna, Italy, 23-25 June 2009

Subscription information

AdaptNet (ISSN: 1836-2478) is a free weekly report produced by RMIT University Global Cities Institute‘s Climate Change Adaptation Working Group, Melbourne, Australia.

• English: Subscribe or unsubscribe.
• Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese): Tham gia or Không tham gia (tại Bản tin Hội đồng Công trình Xanh Việt Nam).

Translations

• AdaptNet in English: 2006, 2007, 2008.
• Terjemahan dalam Bahasa Indonesia  (AdaptNet in Bahasa Indonesian): 2007, 2008.
• Tiếng Việt (AdaptNet in Vietnamese): 2007, 2008. 
• 气候变迁适应性研究网中国版 (AdaptNet in Mandarin Chinese): 2008.

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