AdaptNet for 5 May 2009
- Balancing Adaptation and Mitigation – US and Australia
- Climate Change in Cities – An Integrated Assessment
- State of the World’s Cities 2008/2009
- Microfinance and Climate Change Adaptation
- Climate Change – Understanding Farmer’s Perceptions
- The Rising Tides Ideas Competition
AdaptNet Special Report: The Nottingham Declaration Action Pack – Laurie Newton
Balancing Adaptation and Mitigation – US and Australia
The study reviews planning policies and practices relating to climate change in the United States and Australia. It ascertains whether the policies focus on adaptation, mitigation or both and whether the practices put mitigation and adaptation in potential discord with each other. The study finds that half of the activities identified contain potential variance to achieving adaptation and mitigation concurrently.
Urban Form and Climate Change: Balancing Adaptation and Mitigation in the U.S. and Australia, Elisabeth M. Hamin and Nicole Gurran, Habitat International, vol. 33, pp. 238-245, 2009 [subscription required]
Climate Change in Cities – An Integrated Assessment
The paper reviews the climate change challenges faced by cities. It introduces an integrated assessment system for analysing climate change in cities. The paper helps engineers and urban planners better understand the systems for which they are responsible and support them to make more sustainable urban systems.
A Blueprint for the Integrated Assessment of Climate Change in Cities, Richard Dawson et al., Working Paper 129, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, UK, February 2009 [1.57 MB, PDF]
State of the World’s Cities 2008/2009
This report adopts the concept of ‘Harmonious Cities’ as an operational tool to confront the most important challenges facing urban areas and their development processes. It focuses on three key areas: spatial or regional harmony; social harmony; and environmental harmony. The report addresses national concerns by searching for solutions at the city level.
State of the World’s Cities 2008/2009 – Harmonious Cities, Eduardo López Moreno et al., Earthscan (publishers), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), Kenya, 2008 [23.5 MB, PDF]
Microfinance and Climate Change Adaptation
The article explores the links between microfinance, vulnerability reduction and adaptation to climate change. It discusses possibilities of using microfinance as a tool for reducing peoples’ vulnerability to climate change. The article highlights the opportunities and the risks for reducing vulnerability among the world’s poorest populations.
Microfinance and Climate Change Adaptation, Anne Hammill, Richard Matthew and Elissa McCarter, IDS Bulletin, Volume 39, Number 4, Institute of Development Studies, 2008 [95.6 KB, PDF]
Climate Change – Understanding Farmer’s Perceptions
The study attempts to gain insights from the experience of farmers through a farm household survey in the Limpopo River Basin of South Africa. It examines how farmer perceptions correspond with climate data recorded at meteorological stations in the area, and analyses farmers’ adaptation responses to climate change and variability.
Understanding Farmers’ Perceptions and Adaptations to Climate Change and Variability: The Case of the Limpopo Basin, South Africa, Glwadys Aymone Gbetibouo, IFPRI Discussion Paper 00849, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), February 2009 [313 KB, PDF]
The Rising Tides Ideas Competition
This competition is looking for any idea/concept that addresses sea level rise ranging from the most pragmatic and humble to boldly imaginative and ambitious. Each proposal should be understood as part of a suite of initiatives that help communities adapt to the effects of rising sea level. For more information, please go to the website below.
An International Competition for Ideas Responding to Sea Level Rise in San Francisco Bay and Beyond, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), California, USA, May 2009
AdaptNet Special Report: The Nottingham Declaration Action Pack – Laurie Newton
Laurie Newton, Local Authority Project Officer at UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) writes, “NDAP is a web-based tool offering guidance on the development of local authority climate change action plans covering both mitigation and adaptation. It is structured around a standard project management approach, in particular that used in the Carbon Trust’s Local Authority Carbon Management Programme (LACMP). The 5 stages of NDAP are: getting started; assessing current and likely future situation; developing a strategic approach; preparing an action plan; and implementation. NDAP is organised around the 3 main roles of local authorities: estate manager (for adaptation this is assumed to include all corporate functions); service provider; and community leader. All the adaptation guidance is based on a common risk-based approach with advice on how this can be applied to each of these roles.”
The Nottingham Declaration Action Pack (NDAP), Laurie Newton, AdaptNet Special Report 09-03-S-Ad, 05 May 2009