BIM for Landscape Design Improving Climate Adaptation Planning: The Evaluation of Software Tools Based on the ISO 25010 Standard

This paper investigates the capabilities and limitations of different software tools simulating landscape design adaptability. The evaluation of tools is based on the ISO 25010 framework, which investigates software functionality, reliability, performance efficiency, usability, compatibility, and information quality. These quality characteristics of software are analysed during objective experiments where five software tools are used for a case study project at the conceptual design phase. These experiments reveal that the existing software tools for climate adaptation planning are focused on different aspects of climate adaptability, generating different types of information. Moreover, all tools deal with some limitations in terms of compatibility, performance efficiency, and functional operations. The ISO 25010 quality model provides a comprehensive framework to compare the capabilities of different software tools for climate adaptation planning. This paper is part of a wider study including an analysis of the needs of project stakeholders regarding climate adaptation software tools. However, this article focuses on technical capabilities of current climate adaptation software tools.

A call for the library community to deploy best practices toward a database for biocultural knowledge relating to climate change

PurposeIn this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presentedDesign/methodology/approachBased in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive—rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.FindingsCOVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. With wildfires, drought, flooding and other extreme or slow-onset weather events presenting dangers, it is imperative that libraries take joint action toward facilitating sustainable and open access to relevant information.Practical implicationsAn initiative could create an easily-accessible, open, linked, curated, secure and stakeholder-respectful database for global biocultural heritage—documenting traditional knowledge, local knowledge and climate adaptation traditions.Social implicationsOngoing stakeholder involvement from the outset should acknowledge preferences regarding whether or how much to share information. Ethical elements must be embedded from concept to granular access and metadata elements.Originality/valueRooted in the best practices and service orientation of library science, the proposal envisions a sustained response to a common global challenge. Stewardship would also broadly assist the global community by preserving and providing streamlined access to information of instrumental value to addressing climate change.

Climate-Related Development Finance, Energy Structure Transformation and Carbon Emissions Reduction: An Analysis From the Perspective of Developing Countries

With the frequent occurrence of extreme weather in cities, economic, ecological and social activities have been greatly impacted. The adverse effects of global extreme climate and effective governance have attracted more and more attention of scholars. Considering the differences between developed and developing countries in climate response capacity, a key issue is how to encourage developed countries to provide adequate assistance to developing countries and enhance their enthusiasm to participate in addressing climate change challenges. Given this background, we evaluated the carbon emission reduction effects of developing countries before and after a “quasi-natural experiment” which involved obtaining the assistance of climate-related funding from developed countries. Specifically, we analyzed the assistance behavior for recipient countries and found that climate assistance can effectively reduce the carbon emissions level of recipient countries, and this result has a better impact on non-island types and countries with higher levels of economic development. Furthermore, the achievement of this carbon emissions reduction target stems from the fact that climate assistance has promoted the optimization of the energy structure of recipient countries and promoted the substitution of renewable energy for coal consumption. In addition, climate-related development finance plays a significant role in promoting the scientific and technological level of recipient countries, especially the development impact of the adaptive climate-related development finance. Therefore, this paper suggests that the direction of climate assistance should focus more on island countries and countries with low economic development level, and pay more attention to the “coal withdrawal” of recipient countries and climate adaptation field.

Everyday limits to adaptation

Adaptation to climate change, in terms of both academic and policy debates, has been treated predominantly as a local issue. This scalar focus points towards local agency as well as the contested responsibilisation of local actors and potential disconnects with higher-level dynamics. While there are growing calls for individuals to take charge of their own lives against mounting climatic forces, little is known about the day-to-day actions people take, the many hurdles, barriers, and limits they encounter in their adaptation choices, and the trade-offs they consider envisaging the future. To address this gap, this article draws on 80+ interviews with urban and rural residents in Western Australia to offer a nuanced analysis of everyday climate adaptation and its limits. Our findings demonstrate that participants are facing significant adaptation barriers and that, for many, these barriers already constitute limits to what they can do to protect what they value most. They also make visible how gender, age, and socioeconomic status shape individual preferences, choices, and impediments, revealing compounding layers of disadvantage and differential vulnerability. We argue that slow and reflexive research is needed to understand what adaptation limits matter and to whom and identify opportunities to harness and support local action. Only then will we be able to surmount preconceived neoliberal ideals of the self-sufficient, resilient subject, engage meaningfully with ontological pluralism, and contribute to the re-politicisation of adaptation decision making.

Will population exposure to heat extremes intensify over Southeast Asia in a warmer world?

Temperature extremes have increased during the past several decades and are expected to intensify under current rapid global warming over Southeast Asia (SEA). Exposure to rising temperatures in highly vulnerable regions affects populations, ecosystems, and other elements that may suffer potential losses. Here, we evaluate changes in temperature extremes and future population exposure over SEA at global warming levels (GWLs) of 2.0 °C and 3.0 °C using outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). Results indicate that temperature extreme indices are projected to increase over SEA at both GWLs, with more significant magnitudes at 3.0 °C. However, daily temperature ranges (DTR) show a decrease. The substantial increase in total SEA population exposure to heat extremes from 730 million person-days at 2.0 °C GWL to 1,200 million person-days at 3.0 °C GWL is mostly contributed by the climate change component, accounting for 48%. In addition, if the global warming is restricted well below 2.0 °C, the avoided impacts in population exposure are prominent for most regions over SEA with the largest mitigation in the Philippines (PH). Aggregate population exposure to impacts is decreased by approximately 39% at 2.0 °C GWL, while the interaction component effect, which is associated with increased population and climate change, would decrease by 53%. This indicates the serious consequences for growing populations concurrent with global warming impacts if the current fossil-fueled development pathway is adhered to. The present study estimates the risks of increased temperature extremes and population exposure in a warmer future, and further emphasizes the necessity and urgency of implementing climate adaptation and mitigation strategies in SEA.