scholarly journals Archetypes of Climate-Risk Profiles among Rural Households in Limpopo, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-560
Author(s):  
Fiona Paumgarten ◽  
Bruno Locatelli ◽  
Ed T. F. Witkowski
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Households ◽  
Household Head ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Risk Profiles ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Climate Hazards

AbstractMore frequent and intense climate hazards, a predicted outcome of climate change, are likely to threaten existing livelihoods in rural communities, undermining households’ adaptive capacity. To support households’ efforts to manage and reduce this risk, there is a need to better understand the heterogeneity of risk within and between communities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revised their climate vulnerability framework to incorporate the concept of risk. This study contributes toward the operationalization of this updated framework by applying a recognized methodology to the analysis of the climate-related risk of rural households. Using a mixed-method approach, including a cluster analysis, it determined and assessed archetypical patterns of household risk. The approach was applied to 170 households in two villages, in different agroecological zones, in the Vhembe District Municipality of South Africa’s Limpopo Province. Six archetypical climate-risk profiles were identified based on differences in the core components of risk, namely, the experience of climate hazards, the degree of exposure and vulnerability, and the associated impacts. The method’s application is illustrated by interpreting the six profiles, with possible adaptation pathways suggested for each. The archetypes show how climate-related risk varies according to households’ livelihood strategies and capital endowments. There are clear site-related distinctions between the risk profiles; however, the age of the household and the gender of the household head also differentiate the profiles. These different profiles suggest the need for adaptation responses that account for these site-related differences, while still recognizing the heterogeneity of risk at the village level.

scholarly journals Inclusion of climate change strategies in municipal Integrated Development Plans: A case from seven municipalities in Limpopo Province, South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mankolo X. Lethoko
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Integrated Development ◽  
Greenhouse Gasses ◽  
Local Municipalities ◽  
Development Plans ◽  
Adaptation And Mitigation

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made it clear that anthropogenic greenhouse gasses are the main cause of observed global warming that leads to climate change. Climate change is now a global reality. In the South African political set-up, local municipalities are the structures that are in direct contact with communities and they draw up Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), which are reviewed and upgraded annually. The article seeks to investigate the extent to which climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies are embedded IDPs in seven vulnerable municipalities in the Limpopo Province. The article conducted an in-depth content analysis of the IDPs of the seven municipalities and the results have revealed that these municipalities have not included adaptation and mitigation strategies adequately in their IDPs despite being the most vulnerable municipalities in the province. The article concludes that these municipalities have not as yet institutionalised climate change in their daily operations, planning and decision making. To this end, the paper recommends that local municipalities should include climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in their IDPs.Keywords: Climate change; adaptation; mitigation; Integrated Development Plan; vulnerable municipalities

Hot spots - cold spots - what dots? A critical reflection on integrated climate risk assessments – example flood risk in Austria

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Kienberger ◽  
Jutta-Lucia Leis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Hot Spots ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
Physical Vulnerability ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Adaptation Measures

<p>Climate risk, and related impacts, are determined by a variety of natural, climatological and socio-economic factors. In its fifth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has adapted the concept and terminology in this respect. The challenge is: How can relevant influencing factors be identified and integrated? And, how can these factors be represented spatially and integratively in order to provide decision makers with a sound basis for adaptation measures? The central starting question is: Where do I do what (and when)? Within the Austrian ACRP project 'RESPECT', a novel climate change risk analysis for the natural hazard 'flooding' was developed. Special attention is paid to the modelling of socio-economic and physical vulnerability and its integration into a spatially explicit climate risk analysis. As a result, spatial and thematic hotspots of social and physical vulnerability and climate risk for Austria are identified, which serve as a basis for the identification of adaptation measures.</p><p>As a result, climate risk maps are available for Austria, which show risk and vulnerability hotspots as homogeneous spatial regions, independent from administrative boundaries and traditional raster-based approaches. These hotspots are quantitatively evaluated by an index value as a measure of climate risk. In addition to the purely quantitative evaluation, it is also possible to characterise and present the spatial units qualitatively, in terms of 'problem areas' and contributing factors. This is a significant development compared to 'traditional' spatial units (grid cell based; based on administrative units). Thus the question mentioned at the beginning can be answered - where are which intervention measures necessary. The results are available for socio-economic and physical climate risk, which are flanked by corresponding hazard and vulnerability maps. Results for the present and the future have been produced using proxy indicators from the high-resolution Austrian climate change scenario data (ÖKS15). This makes it possible to identify future hot spots under the assumption of different climate scenarios. The presentations presents the adapted risk concept and methodological approach, respectively, and reflects critically on the opportunities and challenges of climate risk analysis in Austria and in general for the planning of climate change adaptation measures.  </p>

scholarly journals Climate Change and Food Insecurity Dynamics in the Rural Limpopo Province of South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1(J)) ◽  
pp. 22-32
Author(s):  
Abiodun Olusola Omotayo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Household Heads

In the developing nations of the world, poor gross domestic product growth has shown serious vacuum to be filled in order to achieve the sustainable development goals. In that regard, this research article intends to contribute to the sustainable development goals of the United Nation’s goal by explaining the rural food insecurity in the light of climate change dynamic in some selected rural communities of Limpopo Province, South Africa. The data employed in the study were collected from 120 randomly selected rural household heads. Data were analysed with descriptive (frequency, mean etc.) and inferential statistics (Principal component Analysis (PCA), Tobit and Probit Regression) which were properly fitted (P<0.05) for the set research objectives. Descriptive results indicate that the average age of the respondents was 52 years with 60% of the household heads being married and a mean household size of 5.The study concluded that there is climate change effect and food insecurity in the study area and therefore recommended among others that the government of South Africa should endeavour to implement a more rural focused food securityclimate change policies in order to relieve the intensity of food insecurity situations among these disadvantaged rural dwellers of the province as well as to entrench a policy of long term development of agriculture. Finally, the study emphasized that the rural farming households should be enlightened through proper extension services to carry out climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in alleviating the food insecurity situation in the rural communities of the province. 

scholarly journals Teaching climate risk for water planning: a pilot training for tertiary students and practitioners in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-554
Author(s):  
Pablo Borges de Amorim ◽  
Pedro Luiz Borges Chaffe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Data Interpretation ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Pilot Training ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Professional Development Training ◽  
Risk Framework

Abstract. Climate change is one of the major challenges of our society; thus educational resources on climate risk and adaptation are needed. In this case study, we present a short-duration face-to-face training for water professionals about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s climate risk framework. The training uses problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy, and its suitability and benefits are evaluated with qualitative observation and self-assessment of knowledge of tertiary students and practitioners from five independent groups in Brazil. We find that the application of a mapping exercise using the IPCC's climate risk framework supports learning about climate risk, as well as data interpretation, creativity, teamwork, communication, and critical thinking by the participants. This work merges the IPCC's climate risk framework and PBL for climate risk training. The proposed training enables the teaching of climate risk in stand-alone courses and professional development training in areas where climate is an embedded component.

scholarly journals Assessing Vulnerability to Climate Change in Smallholder Irrigation Schemes of Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10023
Author(s):  
Liboster Mwadzingeni ◽  
Raymond Mugandani ◽  
Paramu L. Mafongoya
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
Irrigation Scheme ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽  
Midlands Province ◽  
Smallholder Irrigation

Globally, climate change poses enormous threats to the livelihoods of rural communities in arid and semi-arid regions. Assessing the extent of vulnerability is critical to identify climate hot spots and develop appropriate adaptation policies and strategies. This paper uses the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and the Livelihood Vulnerability Index—Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (LVI-IPCC) to compare vulnerability to climate change in the Exchange, Insukamini, and Ruchanyu smallholder irrigation schemes (SISs) in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. A questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 317 randomly selected households. Results show higher exposure and sensitivity to climate change in the Insukamini irrigation scheme despite the higher adaptive capacity. Both LVI and LVI-IPCC show that households in Insukamini irrigation scheme are more vulnerable to climate change than in Exchange and Ruchanyu irrigation schemes, attributed to water insecurity, poor social networks, and natural disasters and climate variability. The study recommends that development and investment in Insukamini and Ruchanyu should prioritize improving social networks while Exchange should primarily focus on improving livelihood strategies. Using the LVI-IPCC framework is a key methodology for understanding the vulnerability of communities in SISs and identifying areas that need prime development and investment. These results have implications on implementing investments and livelihood policies in SISs of Zimbabwe.

scholarly journals ESD Ideas: a simple proposal to improve the contribution of IPCC WGI to the assessment and communication of climate change risks

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1155-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowan T. Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Group I ◽  
Climate Change Risks ◽  
Ipcc Working Group

Abstract. The purpose of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is to provide policy-relevant assessments of the scientific evidence about climate change. Policymaking necessarily involves risk assessments, so it is important that IPCC reports are designed accordingly. This paper proposes a specific idea, illustrated with examples, to improve the contribution of IPCC Working Group I to informing climate risk assessments.

scholarly journals Adopting a participatory approach to community forests management in rural Nigeria

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 975-987 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Rural Households ◽  
Household Head ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Community Forests ◽  
Rural Nigeria ◽  
Valuation Technique ◽  
Southwest Nigeria

<div> <p>The study examined the willingness of rural households to pay for sustainable management of community forests in Southwest Nigeria. The value elicitation format used was the dichotomous choice contingent valuation technique. The multistage random sampling technique was used in selecting 180 rural households for the study. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logit regression analysis. Evidence from the logit model indicated that the mean willingness of rural households to pay for sustainable management of community forests was ₦389.04/month. The result also shows that bid, perceived importance of forests, age, educational level of household head, total household income, perception of deforestation effect and intergenerational equity were the significant factors that influence the rural households&rsquo; probability of willingness to pay for community forests management.&nbsp; The study recommends policy measures aimed at inclusion of rural communities in the management of community forests as the rural people are willing to pay for its management which will help ensure sustainable management of forest resources and as well improve the welfare of the rural households.</p> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment in Azerbaijan’s mountain regions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Zebisch ◽  
Stefano Terzi ◽  
Alice Crespi ◽  
Ruth Sonnenschein ◽  
Stefan Steger
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Model ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Mountain Regions ◽  
Qualitative Information ◽  
Hazard Exposure ◽  
Local Stakeholders ◽  
Climate Hazards ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Risk Processes

&lt;p&gt;Mountain regions are an important hotspot of vulnerability to climate change. These ecosystems are experiencing a higher warming rate than other areas in the world, with severe consequences on the environment, the economy and society. This is particularly relevant for Azerbaijan&amp;#8217;s mountain regions, where the climate change impacts on water management could lead to severe consequences on the main local socio-economic activities such as agriculture and livestock farming.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For these reasons, the Impact Chains (ICs) methodology has been applied within two regions of Azerbaijan to understand and investigate cause-effect chains of current and future risk from different type of climate hazards following the approach proposed in the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). ICs provide a consolidated scheme which helps to better understand, systemize and prioritize the factors driving climate impact related risks in a specific system and to perform climate risk assessments. It includes the underlying root-causes of climate risk, hazard, exposure and vulnerability factors and their interactions coming from quantitative and qualitative information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here we present the ICs study for Azerbaijan&amp;#8217;s mountain regions accounting for flood, drought, erosion, heat stress and forest fires identified as the most relevant hazards in the country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climate conditions and future hazard components were assessed looking at future daily temperature and precipitation data until 2099 from two RCP (Representative Concentration Pathways) scenarios provided by the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP). The spatialized dataset is an ensemble of four global climate model simulations at a resolution of 0.5&amp;#176;x0.5&amp;#176;. In particular, the ISIMIP projections were exploited to extract the future evolution and spatial distribution over the region of relevant indicators for climate and climate hazards, including weather extremes and droughts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The different levels of exposure and vulnerability were evaluated combining quantitative and qualitative information coming from spatial analysis, workshop discussion and questionnaires with local stakeholders and experts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To finalize the risk assessment, the hazard, exposure and vulnerability components were combined through aggregation and normalisation techniques and risk indicators and hotspot maps for Azerbaijan&amp;#8217;s mountain regions were developed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The information provided by the ICs will be available to further analyse the risk processes and local dynamics, and to support local stakeholders in decision-making process and future investments on risk reduction and climate adaptation plans.&lt;/p&gt;

Vulnerabilities and Inequalities Experienced by Women in the Climate Change Discourse in South Africa’s Rural Communities: Implications for Social Work

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Nyahunda ◽  
Jabulani Calvin Makhubele ◽  
Vincent Mabvurira ◽  
Frans Koketso Matlakala
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Rural Women ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Adequate Knowledge ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation

Abstract Women’s vulnerability to climate-induced shocks hinges on a high dependence on climate-sensitive livelihoods and a natural resource base aggravated by the acute inequalities that they experience due to patriarchal dominance. This article’s purpose is to unpack the vulnerabilities and inequalities that rural women experience in the climate change terrain which necessitates the involvement of the social work profession. This study adopted a qualitative methodology guided by a multi-case study design. A sample of twenty-five participants, including community members and social workers, participated in the study. These participants were selected through simple purposive and convenient sampling techniques. Data were collected using focus group discussions and individual interviews. The thematic content analysis was followed to analyse the findings. The study established that rural women are impacted by various vulnerabilities and inequalities in the climate change discourse, which serve as barriers to their effective adaptation. The vulnerabilities and inequalities manifest through lack of land and property rights, discrimination from decision-making processes, poverty and lack of adequate knowledge about climate change mitigation and adaptation. Social work involvement to address these catastrophes is scant in the Vhembe district in Limpopo province, South Africa. The study recommends that all climate change interventions should put an end to inequalities women experience in order for them to be effective and social workers should be at the frontline of such initiative.

scholarly journals From Bushfires to Misfires: Climate-related Financial Risk after McVeigh v. Retail Employees Superannuation Trust

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Esmeralda Colombo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Risk Disclosure ◽  
Fiduciary Duties ◽  
Black Swans ◽  
Related Risk

Abstract The year 2020 proved to be a clarion call for global society. There is no longer doubt that increasingly we are experiencing unpredictable events, known as ‘black swans’, ranging from pandemics to financial meltdowns. One of the ’climate black swans’ against which experts have cautioned is the financial crisis caused by climate change. In this context, the Australian case of McVeigh v. Retail Employees Superannuation Trust for the first time tested climate risk and the fiduciary duties of retail pension funds. Settled in November 2020, the case has already raised the bar for climate risk practice in pension funds. In particular, McVeigh suggests that courts, as well as out-of-court settlements, may articulate a duty, rather than grant permission, for pension funds to consider climate-related financial risk in their investment decisions. The article builds on McVeigh to ask two questions. Firstly, what is the role of climate change litigation in promoting climate regulation by pension funds? Secondly, what is the relative importance of pension funds for the risk management of climate-related financial risk via due diligence compared with risk assessment via disclosure? Fundamentally, the article explains climate-related financial risk as a cultural phenomenon and argues that a discussion on pension fund fiduciary duties must consider disclosure in addition to due diligence. It argues that McVeigh articulated the need for a normative approach to pension fund disclosure duties and an extension of the field of climate-related risk disclosure to embrace climate-related risk due diligence.

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