GECHS

In this report GECHS, in collaboration with several leading institutions within the climate change community, analyzes recent literatures on the human dimensions of climate change and the risk perspective. Recognition of the threats to human security associated with climate change has generated growing interest in the relationship between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. There is an intuitive understanding that the two are closely linked, yet it has been difficult to elaborate a common framework for addressing disaster risk in the context of climate change.

The findings of this report suggest a timely need to assess the role that disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation can play in minimizing threats to human security. The risk of more complex, frequent, intense or unpredictable extreme weather events associated with global temperature increases, changing precipitation patterns and sea level rise, coupled with both gradual and non-linear changes to ecosystems and natural resources, suggests the need for a renewed focus on the ways that disaster risk reduction and adaptation can influence the context in which climate change occurs. Rather than creating or perpetuating contexts for disaster, it is possible to use disaster risk reduction and adaptation strategies to create a context that promotes human well-being and security.

This report and a comprehensive bibliography served as a background and support for an International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)/Norway lead proposal, presented at the 28th session of the IPCC in 1-4 September 2008, for an IPCC Special Report on “Managing the Risk of Extreme Events to Advance Climate Change Adaptation”. The writing of the report and the bibliography was funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the Copenhagen Science Congress on Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions, a major session will be organized by J. Timmons Roberts from the College of William and Mary, USA, and Coleen Vogel from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Two types of contributions are sought for two sub-sessions: The first sub-session welcomes broad characterizations of the inequities involved in adapting to climate change, such as how vulnerability and adaptation interact with national poverty, regional imbalances in adaptive capacity, adaptation in the context of national colonial histories, and the ethics of imposing the adaptation burden in an already unequal world. This sub-session will ideally also reflect upon opportunities and barriers that might either enhance or frustrate sustainable development and resilience building efforts. The second sub-session invites contributions that discuss proposals and practice for funding climate adaptation. Several different models have been proposed to include equity issues in their frameworks for who should pay for and who should receive climate aid, including a nation’s emissions responsibility and capability to pay. This scientific conference in March will lead up to the COP-15 in Copenhagen in late 2009, and will provide a synthesis of existing and emerging scientific knowledge relevant for designing and implementing mitigation and adaptation strategies in response to climate change.

Abstracts can only be submitted online, no later than 1 September 2008.

For more information, see the conference website.

A conference on climate change in South Asia will be organized at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, April 16-17 2009. Climate change presents significant challenges for South Asia. Although the effects of climate change on social and environmental systems are likely to be highly uneven (even between communities within South Asia), impoverished regions and populations may bear the brunt of these changes. Therefore, addressing climate change within the South Asian context will require new types of social institutions, cooperative responses and new forms of governance. Papers are invited that address climate change issues within any country or region of South Asia. Preference will be given in paper selection to those that connect their topic to one or more of the broad conference themes of governance, equity, and social justice.

For more information, see the conference website. Abstracts of 250 words or less should be sent to the conference organizers before September 15, 2008.

The International Ocean Institute, USA and the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, are hosting a Coastal Cities Summit on November 17-20 2008, to address the complex challenges that coastal city leaders face as populations increase, resources are depleted, and the impacts of climate change are felt.  The Coastal Cities Summit intends to bring together 600-700 coastal city leaders, managers and academics to discuss environmental, social, economic, and public policy challenges and viable solutions. The 3 ½ day conference will focus on three themes: Climate Change, Risk and Vulnerability, and Sustainable Development.  The planners are soliciting speakers on areas that are particularly relevant to coastal cities: freshwater, pollution, energy, infrastructure, and port security.  All sessions are intended to give a long-needed voice to those who are on the front lines taking leadership on climate change, providing implementation and response plans and continuing to focus on protecting citizens from possible extreme events and human-induced degradation.

Full details are available at the conference website.

Podcasts and presentations are out for the conference RESILIENCE 2008: Resilience, Adaptation and Transformation in Turbulent Times. GECHS chair Karen O’Brien gave the presentation Rethinking social contracts: building resilience in a changing climate. View her presentation on podcast here. This International Science and Policy Conference was organized in Stockholm, Sweden, 14-18 April, and approached society and nature as interdependent social-ecological systems, which are complex adaptive systems. Furthermore, the focus was on cross scale and dynamic interactions that represent new challenges for governance and management in relation to social-ecological systems and ecosystem services. 9 overall themes helped to shed light on the issues, and the overview can be found on the conference website.