1. Adaptation of Built Environment to Climate Change
2. Have Climate Finance Promises Been Fulfilled for the LDCs?
3. Path Dependence, Physical Vulnerability & Climate Extremes
4. Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment – Thailand
5. Emergency Management and Climate Change
6. International Conference on Asian and Pacific Coasts – Indonesia
Adaptation of Built Environment to Climate Change
The paper examines the likely impacts of increased intensities of weather-related natural hazards on the built environment. It identifies adaptations of key regulatory mechanisms (building codes, land-use planning and housing insurance) and industry best practice through building construction, housing and planning. The paper addresses the gap in knowledge (using case studies) through an all hazards approach to building design, land use planning and building stock, to facilitate a proactive approach that could link practice to policy.
Planning, Building and Insuring: Adaptation of Built Environment to Climate Change Induced Increased Intensity of Natural Hazards, David King et al., James Cook University and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF), Gold Coast, Australia, 2013 [4.41 MB, PDF]
Have Climate Finance Promises Been Fulfilled for the LDCs?
This paper includes a systematic review of the reports filed to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2012 of the nations that promised to provide US$ 30 billion in FSF (fast-start finance) over a three-year period from 2010-2012. It assesses whether wealthy nations transparently met their obligations – balancing adaptation and mitigation funding, sourcing funds through UNFCCC channels, without reverting to debt-inducing loans in the place of grants – to the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Least Developed, Most Vulnerable: Have Climate Finance Promises Been Fulfilled for the LDCs? David Ciplet, Timmons Roberts, Mizan Khan, Spencer Fields and Keith Madden, European Capacity Building Initiative (ECBI), April 2013 [325 KB, PDF]
Path Dependence, Physical Vulnerability & Climate Extremes
The article argues that understanding the future implications of climate change will require improved attention to socioeconomic processes that contribute to vulnerability. In particular, it looks at trends in physical vulnerability in the United States and projects future vulnerability under the assumption that path dependence dictates future geographic patterns of development. The article places these projections in context by projecting the economic losses that could be anticipated by 2050 given such path dependence.
Local Path Dependence of U.S. Socioeconomic Exposure to Climate Extremes and the Vulnerability Commitment (In-press), Benjamin L. Preston, Global Environmental Change, April 2013 [Subscription Required]
Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment – Thailand
This paper presents an extended framework for climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessments. It provides a simplified example that uses a holistic view of a society under pressures from socioeconomic changes as well as climate change, and addresses the inter-linkage between key sectors from a complex system perspective. The paper points out gaps in using sectoral vulnerability and adaptation assessment for landscape adaptation planning.
A Holistic Approach to Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment: Pilot Study in Thailand, Suppakorn Chinvanno, Partner Report Series No. 4, Regional Climate Change Adaptation Knowledge Platform for Asia and Stockholm Environment Institute (Asia Centre), Bangkok, Thailand, 2013 [1.44 MB, PDF]
Emergency Management and Climate Change
This review of recent literature on climate change adaptation and emergency management is a background document supporting the updating of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Plan (NARP) for Emergency Management for NCCARF. It provides a brief commentary for four overarching strands of research areas including: understanding risk; community and organisational resilience; adaptive strategies; and regional implications.
Emergency Management and Climate Change: An Updated Review of the Literature 2009-2012, John Handmer, Blythe McLennan, Briony Towers, Joshua Whittaker, Frank Yardley, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF), Gold Coast, Australia, 2013 [655 KB, PDF]
International Conference on Asian and Pacific Coasts – Indonesia
The 7th International Conference on Asian and Pacific Coasts (APAC 2013) will be held from 24-26 September 2013 in Bali, Indonesia. The aim of the conference is to promote scientific advancement, technological progress, information exchange, and cooperation among engineers and researchers in coastal, port, and ocean engineering and other related fields (including climate change and coastal adaptation). For more details, please visit the website given below.
7th International Conference on Asian and Pacific Coasts (APAC 2013), Engineering Faculty, Hasanuddin University, Tamalanrea, Makassar, Indonesia, 24-26 September 2013
For further information, please contact the editor, Saleem Janjua: daptnet@rmit.edu.au
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
Dr. Saleem Janjua, Editor AdaptNet
AdaptNet is a free fortnightly report produced by RMIT University Global Cities Research Institute’s Climate Change Adaptation Programme, Melbourne, Australia. It is published in partnership with the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability.