AdaptNet for 20 May 2008
- Australia’s Human Rights Obligations in Climate Change Responses
- Climate Change and Coastal Cities – Mombasa, Kenya
- Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment – India
- Socioeconomic Adaptation Strategies to Extreme Events in Europe
- Climate Change Impacts – Indigenous and Traditional Peoples
- Adaptation to Climate Change in Water Sector – Workshop
AdaptNet Policy Forum: The Resilience of Indigenous Australians to Climate Change
1. Australia’s Human Rights Obligations in Climate Change Responses
The paper considers the human rights dimensions of climate change. It outlines how Australia may fulfill its human rights obligations in the context of climate change responses. The paper argues that a human rights based approach is the most effective way to respond to climate change.
Human Rights and Climate Change: Background Paper, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), Sydney NSW, Australia, 2008 [PDF]
2. Climate Change and Coastal Cities – Mombasa, Kenya
Mombasa has the largest sea-port in East Africa, serving not only Kenya but also many landlocked countries and the north of Tanzania. The paper discusses the risks that the city of Mombasa faces from the direct and indirect impacts of climate change. It highlights the measures needed to reduce the vulnerability of Mombasa’s population to climate change.
Climate Change and Coastal Cities: The Case of Mombasa, Kenya, Cynthia Brenda Awuor, Victor Ayo Orindi and Andrew Ochieng Adwera, African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), Nairobi, Kenya, 2007 [PDF]
3. Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment – India
The paper sets out the substantive conclusions emerging from India’s First National Communication (NATCOM). It summarizes climate change impacts on Indian water resources, agriculture, forests, coastal zones and human health. The paper stresses the need to develop institutional and human capacity for vulnerability and adaptation assessment in India.
Lessons Learnt for Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment from India’s First National Communication, Sumana Bhattacharya, Winrock International, Paper 7, BASIC Project, September 2007 [PDF]
4. Socioeconomic Adaptation Strategies to Extreme Events in Europe
The paper focuses on extreme events and associated adaptation strategies in Europe. It addresses the economic vulnerability of important agents to monetary disaster losses and risks. The paper suggests that adaptation strategies should be risk based and need to include longer-term economic costs in order to help adapt more effectively to extremes and to decrease various forms of vulnerabilities.
Assessing Long-Term Socioeconomic Adaptation Strategies to Extreme Events in Europe, Hochrainer Stefan and Mechler Reinhard, IIASA – International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, 2008 [PDF]
5. Climate Change Impacts – Indigenous and Traditional Peoples
Climate change is having serious implications on the livelihoods and cultures of indigenous and traditional peoples. Even though these peoples develop adaptation strategies to these changes, the magnitude of future hazards may limit their adaptation capacity. The paper explores culturally appropriate ways to enhance the resilience of indigenous peoples and to reduce factors which hinder adaptation.
Indigenous and Traditional Peoples and Climate Change – Issue Paper, Mirjam Macchi et al., International Union for Conservation of Nature and Nature (IUCN), March 2008 [PDF]
6. Adaptation to Climate Change in Water Sector – Workshop
This workshop will take place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 01-02 July 2008. It aims to address institutional, policy, legal, scientific and financial aspects of adaptation in the water sector, including cross-cutting issues such as education. For more information, please go to the website given below.
Workshop on Adaptation to Climate Change in Water Sector, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 01-02, 2008
AdaptNet Policy Forum: The Resilience of Indigenous Australians to Climate Change
Donna Green, Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Australia, writes,
“My experience in working with Indigenous communities across northern Australia has demonstrated the importance of giving people reliable information on climate change, as well as paying them the respect of asking their views on how best to adapt to those likely changes. Once empowered with that information, Indigenous people have responded strongly and are keen to act. But the lack of government and private funding to assist them in doing so remains a major obstacle.”
The Resilience of Indigenous Australians to Climate Change, Donna Green, AdaptNet policy forum, May 2008
Subscription information
AdaptNet is a free weekly report produced by RMIT University Global Cities Institute‘s Climate Change Adaptation Working Group, Melbourne, Australia.
- Subscribe or unsubscribe.
- View the archive: 2006, 2007, 2008.
- Special reports: 2008.
- Policy forums: 2008.
Translations
For further information, please contact the editor, Saleem Janjua.