AdaptNet for 3 March 2009

1. Accelerating Climate Change – Australia and Victoria
2. California Coastal Management with a Changing Climate
3. An Agenda for Climate Change Adaptation – Hong Kong
4. Risk to Resilience – Moving from Concepts to Practice
5. Lessons from Farmers on Adapting to Climate Change
6. East Asian Seas Congress 2009 – Manila, Philippines

Special Report – Getting Equipped for Climate Adaptation: An Introduction to UKCIP’s Tools – Megan Gawith

Accelerating Climate Change – Australia and Victoria         

This paper presents key findings of research conducted by climate scientists in the period following the IPCC Fourth Assessment. Section one of the paper presents selected key findings and IPCC projections, and details some of the impacts of climate change on Australia. Section two focuses on post-IPCC research on climate change.                    

Accelerating Climate Change, Greg Gardiner and Adam Delacorn, Research Paper No. 2, Research Service, Parliamentary Library, Department of Parliamentary Services, Parliament of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, December 2008 [167 KB, PDF]  

California Coastal Management with a Changing Climate  

The report examines the challenges California’s coastal managers will face as a result of a changing climate, the adaptation tools that are available, and the extent to which government institutions are prepared for changing conditions. It finds that climate change will reinforce the management tradeoffs that are already present. The report concludes with some priority areas for action to improve the state’s preparedness.              

California Coastal Management with a Changing Climate, Ellen Hanak, Georgina Moreno and Sarah Swanbeck, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), San Francisco, California, USA, November 2008 [1.41 MB, PDF] 

An Agenda for Climate Change Adaptation – Hong Kong       

This report examines the risks associated with climate change in Hong Kong. It stresses the need for Hong Kong to demonstrate a high degree of leadership regarding climate change issues. The report recommends that Hong Kong should recognize the risks of climate change and put in place an agenda for climate change adaptation urgently.                

Climate Change Challenges for Hong Kong: An Agenda for Adaptation, Richard Welford, CSR Asia and the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2009 [215 KB, PDF]  

Risk to Resilience – Moving from Concepts to Practice    

The paper outlines a series of key elements and the methodologies for understanding risk and vulnerability within communities, identifying potential response strategies and evaluating the qualitative and quantitative costs and benefits associated with them. It uses an approach (based on a shared learning process) that moves iteratively from initial scoping through systematic vulnerability analysis.                     
 
From Risk to Resilience: Moving from Concepts to Practice: A Process and Methodology Summary for Identifying Effective Avenues for Risk Management Under Changing Climatic Conditions, Working Paper 8, Marcus Moench, Elisabeth Caspari & Anil Pokhrel (editors), ProVention Consortium, Institute for Social and Environmental Transition, and Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal, October 2008 [1.57 MB, PDF]    

Lessons from Farmers on Adapting to Climate Change          

The report underscores that developing nations are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Based on the field research in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, Malawi and Vietnam, it demonstrates that, although farmers are already taking steps to adapt to climate change, their efforts will require a significant infusion of new resources to avoid the most disastrous consequences forecast by the IPCC.                  

The Time is NOW – Lessons from Farmers on Adapting to Climate Change, Jennifer Leavy and Kattie Lussier, ActionAid, Johannesburg, South Africa, November 2008 [654 KB, PDF]

East Asian Seas Congress 2009 – Manila, Philippines       

This congress will take place in Manila, Philippines on 23-27 November 2009. It aims to provide a venue to tackle issues and highlight good practices and lessons learned in the management of coastal and ocean areas including the impacts of climate change and other emerging concerns. Abstracts may be submitted by March 15, 2009.       

The East Asian Seas Congress 2009, The Philippines Government’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), Manila, Philippines, November 23-27, 2009
                                                 

Special Report – Getting Equipped for Climate Adaptation: An Introduction to UKCIP’s Tools – Megan Gawith       

Megan Gawith, Scientific Officer at UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) writes, “The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) helps organisations prepare for the impacts of climate change.  Established by the UK Government in 1997, UKCIP co-ordinates and integrates stakeholder-led climate impacts and adaptation assessments at a regional and national level. The Programme provides tools, guidance and resources to help organisations identify how climate change might affect them and how they can plan to adapt. This paper provides a brief overview of UKCIP, outlining its core concepts and tools. Three of its more recent tools – the UKCIP Adaptation Wizard, Local Climate Impacts Profile (LCLIP) and the Nottingham Declaration Action Pack (NDAP) – will then be introduced and their relationship to other UKCIP products highlighted. Each of these more recent tools will be explored in more detail in future issues of AdaptNet.” 

Getting Equipped for Climate Adaptation: An Introduction to UKCIP’s Tools,  Megan Gawith, AdaptNet Special Report 09-01-S-Ad, 03 March 2009