Search

Climate change leads to an increase in the frequency, duration and intensity of climate risks. Rising temperatures and heat waves constitute the climatic risk that causes the most deaths in Europe. More and more economic and natural implications are also being identified. Municipalities must guarantee a fair and equitable socio-ecological transition in urban centers through adaptation. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can facilitate this and several European cities are already applying them. However, smaller municipalities may be left behind. The literature identifies different incentives and barriers during the phases of adaptation policy making. The research objective of this paper is to determine the perception that technical and political managers have of this climate risk, the level of adaptation through NbS of the municipalities and the incentives and barriers that may arise in the Costa Brava Region. To do this this, seven public officials from different municipalities of Cap de Creus (Alt Empordà, Catalonia) have been interviewed. The analysis has been carried out with a mixed triangulation methodology. The main results indicate that the risk studied is not perceived as being of great concern. NbS are adaptation measures that are little known by municipalities but relevant measures in the adaption process. New incentives and barriers not identified in the literature have also emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a panoramic and comparative analysis of the legislation passed by the Autonomous Communities to tackle climate change. The Paris Agreement gives them a leading role, together with other actors, as subnational entities to face and achieve the challenges posed by climate change mitigation and adaptation. At the time of writing, only three autonomous communities have approved legislative instruments to mitigate and adapt to climate change. These are Catalonia, Andalusia, and the Balearic Islands. However, other regions have approved strategies and policies for the same purpose, and some have begun the process of approving the relevant legislation. In this paper we study the objectives to mitigate and adapt to climate change set out in these laws, the legal instruments they prescribe to achieve them, and their effective implementation and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green infrastructure is being recognized as one of the main strategies for climate emergency mitigation and adaptation in urban contexts. However, there are still very few initiatives in Latin America. This paper explores the Chilean case, in particular the "Stgo+ Green Infrastructure" project, to understand how the climate emergency has been included in green infrastructure planning and the level of priority it has among various types of stakeholders. The research was conducted through a review of planning documents and a participatory methodology, involving institutional, academic, and civil society stakeholders. Chilean urban regulations and territorial planning instruments do not offer much opportunity for the development of green infrastructure systems to face the climate emergency, but there are several indicative instruments that contribute in that sense. On the other hand, there is growing recognition by stakeholders of the importance of green infrastructure, but the climate emergency is an aspect that is still given low priority. The low priority that actors attribute to the climate emergency represents a significant barrier for the incorporation of these issues in public plans and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the main results of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Ipcc, concerning climate change impacts, present and potential vulnerabilities in the biophysical and socioeconomic areas, and the possibilities to affront these through adaptation policies and actions in the Asian Southeast. Risk, vulnerabilities and adaptation options are presented, followed by an assessment of opportunities, resilience, and limits related to adaptation. Section 1.A of First Part characterizes observed impacts, vulnerability, exposure, and present adaptation responses. Section 1.B examines risks and opportunities. In the Second Part, Section 2.A considers the principles for an efficient adaptation, and the links between adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development; Section 2.B is cantered on regional cooperation mechanism on adaptation issues (Apan), as well as collaboration issues on subnational level and within the countries. The paper concludes that the prospective of resilient pathways to sustainable development are related closely to the transformation of economic, social, technological and political decisions and actions that simultaneously enhance the social and economic wellbeing and the responsible management of the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the point of view of tourism, scientific knowledge of the alterations in climate and consequent sector impacts is set up as a key issue for the development of policies for adaptation and mitigation of climate change. However, all this is insufficient unless it is accompanied by the knowledge of public attitudes, beliefs and perceptions of risk showing the different stakeholders. This paper explores, based on a mixed methodology that it includes quantitative and qualitative approach, the perception of risk associated with climate change that present key actors in rural tourism. The proposed approach has allowed knowing how the impacts of climate change, its potential impacts on rural tourism businesses and local adaptation responses developed so far are perceived. Research has also enabled to detect subjective barriers to the adaptation actions that could hinder the fight against the phenomenon. From a geographical point of view, research is focused in Alt Empordà, a Catalan small region located in the northeast of the well-known Costa Brava tourism brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper analyzes the main more indexed divergent elements among three of the integrated assessment models in the literature about climate change: the RICE (Regional Dynamic Integrated model of Climate and the Economy), the FUND (Climate Framework for Uncertainty, Negotiation and Distribution) and the PAGE (Policy Analysis of the Greenhouse Effect). The research shows how each one of them approaches core topics of the integrated assessment of the climate change (the adaptation, the impacts, the uncertainty, the extreme events and discontinuities) from different edges and points of view, arriving to a heterogeneity in the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper presents a methodology for the analysis of vulnerability of water supply sources with regional results (Popayan and Cajibío), considering the following points: 1) incorporation of relevant indicators of municipal water supply sources, 2) Local knowledge on perception, and identification of climate related problems, 3) mathematical procedures and adjust the algorithm for calculating the vulnerability and 4) coordination with territorial planning instruments. As a result, the vulnerability in the current scenario of the Rio Las Piedras subbasin (Popayán) is medium low (0.42) product generated by adaptive capacity developed synergistic processes between local actors; in contrast, the basin of the river Michicao (Cajibio) has a high average vulnerability (0.54) due to social dislocation, low institutional presence and zero environmental investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the main findings regarding the climate change perspective in the department of Antioquia. For measuring it, means such as surveys, interviews, and a focus group were used with parties related to academia, the government, and the authorities of Antioquia. The results show that, in Antioquia, there are still gaps to be filled, and few, or little known, commitments for prevention; deficient institutional presence, and little interest from the local government for actions derived from the issue of regulations, and tools for adaptation to climate change to be implemented effectively. Likewise, there is little planning and connection between initiatives and the means for management in the territory. The parties surveyed agree that the most vulnerable sectors in the face of climate change, from an economic viewpoint, are the production units in the livestock, agricultural and energetic fields. From a social point of view, the main problem is what geomorphologic conditions generate, and, from an environmental point of view, the loss of biodiversity. Finally, education is viewed as the main instrument and tool for knowing and approaching the essence of climate change, as well as the implications that it can have for society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, one of the main global risks humankind is currently facing, became a relevant issue on the international agenda in the last few decades. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted in 1992, includes both mitigation and adaptation strategies; however, though both are considered equally important, adaptation has been historically relegated to a secondary role within the Convention. The paper first presents an overview of the trajectory of adaptation as a UNFCCC guideline, discusses its institutional evolution and the Convention’s financing mechanisms, and, finally, explores the relations between adaptation and development. The conclusions point to the insufficiency of the Convention with respect to the implementation of measures for adaptation to climate change, but highlight its relevant role as a scenario for debate, as a source of funding, and as a promoter of both national and subnational actions, especially in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of contrasting definitions of vulnerability to climate change poses a crucial challenge for the relationship between science and public policy in the context of adaptation to climate change. After reviewing the mainstream conceptualization of vulnerability to climate change, the article criticizes the use of the risk-hazard approach as a conceptual basis for measuring that vulnerability. Using concrete examples, the article illustrates how the resulting concept of vulnerability varies profoundly with respect to the type of knowledge generated and the epistemological approach depending on whether the concept of inherent vulnerability or that of outcome vulnerability is used. The paper concludes that the use of one or the other leads to public policies that are radically different in scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the effects of climate change in agriculture and food in Latin America. In response to Maletta (2009), this essay analyze the real impacts climate change will have in the region. We suggest that global impacts in agriculture and food will be high in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current context of economic and environmental crisis, the question for developing countries, whether it is better to think about adapting or mitigating climate change. Of the more than 24 million metric tons of C02 emitted in the world, Mexico contributes only 1.6%, although this figure is relatively small is important to devise strategies to tackle the problem of climate change, considering participation of key stakeholders such as government, private sector and civil society, through the design of environmental policies and concrete actions from private enterprise. The target of this paper is to explain how from the private sector itself emerging alternatives for adapting to climate change, the trades do also contribute to the mitigation, such as the experience of industrial ecology has been given in Altamira, Tamaulipas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate variability (CV) and climate change (CC) have been associated to global changes or to changes in the climate regime and have shown remarkable effects on the hydrological cycle. Water shortage, changes in precipitation intensity, and variability of extreme events are gaining more importance. Because of the increase in air temperature and the changes in precipitation, CC is increasing the competition for fresh water and is impacting hydrological processes and regimes, causing in some cases a larger flow of pollutants and sediments in lakes and rivers, water quality degradation, alteration of the rate of bio-geochemical processes, and reduction of dissolved oxygen concentration. The need for adapting to CC is urgent when large economic and social changes are occurring that affect usage of water resources (WR). CC is increasing the vulnerability of badly-managed water systems, creating an urgent need to build a new framework for the management of WR. In this paper, an integrated water resource management concept (IWRM) is presented, which is gaining acceptance as a CC adaptation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]