Climate Change Adaptation Manual

Lessons learned from European and other industrialised countries

Andrea Prutsch, Torsten Grothmann, Sabine McCallum, Inke Schauser, Rob Swart

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781134612505
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Development Economics
• Index: Economics

Due to the lack of success in climate change mitigation efforts, the importance of adaptation is becoming more and more apparent and is now one of the main imperatives of international research and action. However, research on adaptation is mostly not directly applicable to adaptation policy or practice, leaving a gap between scientific results and practical advice for decision makers and planners. This book seeks to address this problem and bridge the gap and should provide readers with practical and applicable information on climate change adaptation.

Following an introduction, the book is organised into four main sections, each reflecting an essential component in the adaptation process. Climate change adaptation is an emerging subject area and has gained increased political and academic attention within the last decade. Whereas most books in the field focus on adaptation in developing countries, this volume provides an examination of predominantly European policy and offers inter-disciplinary insight into cutting edge knowledge and lessons learnt in a relatively new field of implementation.

PART I

Introduction and overview

1

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD ADAPTATION AND STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK

Inke Schauser, Sabine McCallum, Andrea Prutsch, Torsten Grothmann and Rob Swart

1.1 Why this book?

Climate change is already affecting our environment, our economy, and our way of living: evidence from all continents and most oceans shows that many natural and social systems are being affected by regional climate change (Parry et al. 2007). A series of extreme weather events in the last decade, such as the heat wave in Europe in 2003, flooding of the rivers Elbe and Danube in 2002 and 2013, and the drought and associated forest fires in 2010 in Russia, have also shaped public awareness of climate change. These events have all highlighted the need for Europe to adapt itself to the realities of climate change, especially considering that the frequency and magnitude of extreme events such as these are projected to increase in the coming years (IPCC 2012).

Adaptation is necessary to minimise negative impacts resulting from current and expected climate change, and in order to maximise our ability to benefit from any opportunities that climate change may bring. The question is, how to adapt? Simple advice, such as ‘save energy’ or ‘use more renewable energy’, is suitable and effective when it comes to preventing climate change. However, when it comes to adapting to climate change, there is no equivalent simple advice. Nevertheless, some common recommendations and guiding principles do exist, and they are equally valid in different countries, for different economic sectors, and for different climatic threats.

Adaptation to climate change is already taking place in Europe and across the world. In fact, adaptation to changing conditions is not a new phenomenon. Both traditional and industrialised societies have adapted their environments to alleviate risks associated with climate variability throughout human history, a process known as autonomous adaptation. It is to be expected that some autonomous adaptation by economies and societies will continue to take place even without any policy intervention. Autonomous responses to a changing environment by individuals, groups or organisations will take place whenever actors perceive that people or assets are at risk, or where they perceive that action will provide economic and societal benefits.

However, autonomous adaptation on its own will not be fully adequate for coping with climate change (EEA 2013). The complexity of climate change, and the range and magnitude of risks we might face, may overwhelm a process of autonomous adaption. Instead, it will be necessary to implement planned adaptation, which proactively addresses potential risks and opportunities. Planned adaptation will help policy makers and societies to take decisions that will remain both robust (to cover all possible climate change scenarios) and flexible (so the measures can be changed if conditions change) to cope with an uncertain future.

Adapting to climate change is a critical challenge for the future. However, it must be remembered that climate change is only one of many stresses that influence decision making, which is also affected by short-term political or economic challenges, among other things. Climate change must therefore be considered alongside – and not separate from – environmental, social and economic issues affecting human and natural systems. Thus, adaptation requires a balanced approach that addresses both climate and non-climate risks (e.g. globalisation, demographic change).

In many cases, adaptation options do not solely target adaptation to climate change, but also aim at other societal or policy objectives. Planning for adaptation provides the opportunity for actors from different sectors to cooperatively address future risks and opportunities, while acknowledging the different backgrounds and values of all involved. Engaging stakeholders, and in particular stakeholders affected by climate change, offers an opportunity to identify innovative solutions to climate change that also have legitimacy and broad support.

The past decade has seen a great accumulation of knowledge on climate change adaptation, both in terms of the policy responses, and in terms of practical, on-the-ground measures. This manual brings together in one volume a variety of adaptation approaches and a broad spectrum of lessons learned in climate adaptation policy and practice up to now. It provides adaptation planners and decision makers with scientifically based information that is also practical and user-friendly. It elaborates on key aspects of successful adaptation by giving examples of adaptation policy and practice that have already been implemented in Europe. Experience from previous adaptation actions can also be very relevant in other regions outside Europe.

The title ‘Adaptation Manual’ is not intended to imply that this volume provides readers with detailed step-by-step instructions on how to plan for adaptation. Instead, ‘manual’ should be understood in a broader sense. This work shows different approaches for each adaptation phase, building on generic guiding principles, and highlighting lessons learned to support sharing of existing knowledge and experiences.

TABLE 1 Phases of adaptation processes and guiding principles for good adaptation

Prepare the ground for adaptation Explore potential climate change impacts and vulnerabilities and identify priority concerns (cf. Chapter 5) Initiate adaptation, ensure commitment and management (cf. Chapter 6) Build knowledge and awareness (cf. Chapter 7) Identify and cooperate with relevant stakeholders (cf. Chapter 8) Plan for adaptation Explore a wide spectrum of adaptation options (cf. Chapter 9) Prioritise adaptation options (cf. Chapter 10) Work with uncertainties (cf. Chapter 11) Implement adaptation and review results Avoid maladaptation (cf. Chapter 12) Modify existing and develop new policies, structures and processes (cf. Chapter 13) Monitor and evaluate systematically (cf. Chapter 14)

1.2 Structure of the book

This manual is divided into four parts. Part I provides an overview of the general challenges of adaptation, and the state of current adaptation research and action.

Part II is the core component of the book. It presents the ten guiding principles for good adaptation that were developed for the EEA by the editors of this book (Prutsch et al. 2010) (cf. Table 1.1). These ten principles cover the different interlinked phases of adaptation, from preparing the ground, to the selection and planning of measures, to the implementation of these measures and the monitoring and assessment of their progress. In every chapter, the guiding principle is first explained and updated based on new scientific literature. The principle is then illustrated by three to four cases representing experiences from adaptation policy and practice in several European countries. These cases reflect adaptation experiences from various regions, sectors and levels of decision making. They have been chosen to illustrate how specific guiding principles can be realised in practice and not every case can illustrate all ten guiding principles. Finally, the lessons learned from the cases are identified for each chapter and guiding principle.

It must be remembered that the guiding principles are not organised in order of importance. The guiding principles are strongly interlinked and mutually influenced. Together, they give a common basis for cooperative adaptation activities across sectors and for all decision-making levels. While developed with a focus on Europe, the guiding principles are also relevant elsewhere in the world.

In Part III, the focus of the manual is broadened, turning to the state of adaptation policy and practice in the US, Australia, Japan and developing countries. These contributions reflect on the relevance of the guiding principles for countries outside Europe. Part IV, the final chapter of the manual, summarises the main lessons learned from the various practical experiences presented in this book.

With this manual, we aim to provide readers with inter-disciplinary insights into cutting-edge knowledge and on climate change adaptation, including knowledge from adaptation research, policy and practice. We believe that learning from past experience and basing future decisions on what works will increase long-term adaptive capacity and resilience. Thus, we hope that the lessons learned in this volume will add to the discussion on how to reach good practice in adaptation and encourage taking further proactive steps towards a climate-resilient society.

References

EEA (2013) Adaptation in Europe. Addressing risks and opportunities from climate change in the context of socio-economic developments, EEA Report 3/2013, Copenhagen.

IPCC (2012) Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor and P.M. Midgley (eds.)], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, 582 pp.

Parry, M.L., Canziani, O.F., Palutikof, J.P., van der Linden, P.J. and Hanson C.E. (ed.) 2007 Climate Change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Prutsch, A., Grothmann, T., Schauser, I., Otto, S. and McCallum, S. (2010) Guiding principles for adaptation to climate change in Europe. ETC/ACC Technical Paper 2010/6, European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change. http://air-climate.eionet.europa.eu/reports/ETCACC_TP_2010_6_guid_princ_cc_adapt

2

FACING THE SPECIFIC CHALLENGES OF ADAPTATION

Andrea Prutsch, Sabine McCallum, Torsten Grothmann, Inke Schauser and Rob Swart

2.1 Introduction

Despite similarities to other planning processes, adaptation to climate change is characterised by several challenges that set it apart from other planning processes and must be acknowledged and proactively addressed. The analysis of these challenges and consideration of how they could be overcome led to the ten guiding principles for good adaptation presented in Chapter 1 and elaborated in Chapters 5 to 14.

Adaptation is complex due to the fact that climate change affects all regions, most sectors, all levels of decision making and many actors from various backgrounds differently (Grothmann 2011). This diversity and the long-term and large-scale nature of the risks involved imply that current practice in planning will be insufficient for comprehensive adaptation. Planning for adaptation also involves dealing with imperfect knowledge and uncertainties; this can conflict with the expectation that decision making should be based on agreed-upon “hard” evidence and robust information. In addition, non-climatic factors such as social and economic issues must be taken into account in comprehensive adaptation decision making.

In this chapter, we present a concise summary of the main challenges that can occur in adaptation processes.

2.1.1 Adaptation faces regional disparities

Climate impacts emerge at the regional and...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Part I Introduction and overview
• Part II Phases of adaptation processes and guiding principles for good adaptation
• Part III State of art outside Europe
• Part IV Lessons learned
• Index