scholarly journals A systematic approach to assess human wellbeing demonstrated for impacts of climate change

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tabea K. Lissner ◽  
Dominik E. Reusser ◽  
Tobia Lakes ◽  
Jürgen P. Kropp
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Influence Matrix ◽  
Impact Pathways

AbstractClimate change impacts will affect many important societal sectors, with potential negative consequences for human well-being and livelihoods, however an integrated and systematic measure to assess the state of livelihood conditions in this context is not available. At the same time, human livelihoods and wellbeing are an important part of (social) sustainability. Yet, aspects of human needs and well-being within assessments of sustainability are criticised for being arbitrary and incomplete. This paper presents a systematic approach to assess Adequate Human livelihood conditions for wEll-being And Development (AHEAD) on a regional to global scale. Based on an interdisciplinary literature review, we first select a consistent set of elements that allow to describe and quantify well-being and livelihoods. In a second step, we analyze documented associations between the elements to outline climate impact pathways and indirect effects of changes in single system components, using an influence matrix. The novel approach provides an important first step to point towards climate change adaptation measures, which most effectively increase human well-being, while identifying potential unintended side-effects. Even though there are some limitations to assessing well-being and livelihoods on a global scale, a consistent measure of AHEAD is of utmost importance for future sustainability and climate impact analyses.

scholarly journals Climate impacts on human livelihoods: where uncertainty matters in projections of water availability

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 403-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. Lissner ◽  
D. E. Reusser ◽  
J. Schewe ◽  
T. Lakes ◽  
J. P. Kropp
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Impact Model ◽  
First Results

Abstract. Climate change will have adverse impacts on many different sectors of society, with manifold consequences for human livelihoods and well-being. However, a systematic method to quantify human well-being and livelihoods across sectors is so far unavailable, making it difficult to determine the extent of such impacts. Climate impact analyses are often limited to individual sectors (e.g. food or water) and employ sector-specific target-measures, while systematic linkages to general livelihood conditions remain unexplored. Further, recent multi-model assessments have shown that uncertainties in projections of climate impacts deriving from climate and impact models as well as greenhouse gas scenarios are substantial, posing an additional challenge in linking climate impacts with livelihood conditions. This article first presents a methodology to consistently measure Adequate Human livelihood conditions for wEll-being And Development (AHEAD). Based on a transdisciplinary sample of influential concepts addressing human well-being, the approach measures the adequacy of conditions of 16 elements. We implement the method at global scale, using results from the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) to show how changes in water availability affect the fulfilment of AHEAD at national resolution. In addition, AHEAD allows identifying and differentiating uncertainty of climate and impact model projections. We show how the approach can help to put the substantial inter-model spread into the context of country-specific livelihood conditions by differentiating where the uncertainty about water scarcity is relevant with regard to livelihood conditions – and where it is not. The results indicate that in many countries today, livelihood conditions are compromised by water scarcity. However, more often, AHEAD fulfilment is limited through other elements. Moreover, the analysis shows that for 44 out of 111 countries, the water-specific uncertainty ranges are outside relevant thresholds for AHEAD, and therefore do not contribute to the overall uncertainty about climate change impacts on livelihoods. The AHEAD method presented here, together with first results, forms an important step towards making scientific results more applicable for policy-decisions.

scholarly journals Climate impacts on human livelihoods: where uncertainty matters in projections of water availability

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. Lissner ◽  
D. E. Reusser ◽  
J. Schewe ◽  
T. Lakes ◽  
J. P. Kropp
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Impact Model ◽  
First Results

Abstract. Climate change will have adverse impacts on many different sectors of society, with manifold consequences for human livelihoods and well-being. However, a systematic method to quantify human well-being and livelihoods across sectors is so far unavailable, making it difficult to determine the extent of such impacts. Climate impact analyses are often limited to individual sectors (e.g. food or water) and employ sector-specific target measures, while systematic linkages to general livelihood conditions remain unexplored. Further, recent multi-model assessments have shown that uncertainties in projections of climate impacts deriving from climate and impact models, as well as greenhouse gas scenarios, are substantial, posing an additional challenge in linking climate impacts with livelihood conditions. This article first presents a methodology to consistently measure what is referred to here as AHEAD (Adequate Human livelihood conditions for wEll-being And Development). Based on a trans-disciplinary sample of concepts addressing human well-being and livelihoods, the approach measures the adequacy of conditions of 16 elements. We implement the method at global scale, using results from the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) to show how changes in water availability affect the fulfilment of AHEAD at national resolution. In addition, AHEAD allows for the uncertainty of climate and impact model projections to be identified and differentiated. We show how the approach can help to put the substantial inter-model spread into the context of country-specific livelihood conditions by differentiating where the uncertainty about water scarcity is relevant with regard to livelihood conditions – and where it is not. The results indicate that livelihood conditions are compromised by water scarcity in 34 countries. However, more often, AHEAD fulfilment is limited through other elements. The analysis shows that the water-specific uncertainty ranges of the model output are outside relevant thresholds for AHEAD for 65 out of 111 countries, and therefore do not contribute to the overall uncertainty about climate change impacts on livelihoods. In 46 of the countries in the analysis, water-specific uncertainty is relevant to AHEAD. The AHEAD method presented here, together with first results, forms an important step towards making scientific results more applicable for policy decisions.

scholarly journals Coping with and Adapting to Climate Change: A Gender Perspective from Smallholder Farming in Ghana

Environments ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsie Assan ◽  
Murari Suvedi ◽  
Laura Schmitt Olabisi ◽  
Andrea Allen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Farm Households ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Savings And Loans ◽  
Adaptation Capacity ◽  
Adaptation Practices

The negative impacts of climate change on agriculture could erode gains made toward gender equality in Ghana. Much of the literature on gender dimensions of climate change adaptation has focused on assessing differences in coping and adaptation practices of smallholder farmers. Mostly overlooked is whether gender influences influenced perception of effectiveness of adaptation practices and preferences for institutional support for future adaptation. Using key informant interviews, household surveys, and focus group discussions, we address these gaps by exploring coping and adaptation measures adopted by heads of farm households to counter climate change impacts on their livelihood activities and household well-being in the Guinea Savanna agroecological zone in Ghana. Additionally, we assessed the preferred institutional adaptation support of heads of farm households in adapting to future projected impacts. We find that female heads of farm households relied mainly on borrowed money from village savings and loans group as a coping measure; male heads of farm households depended primarily on sales of livestock. Varying planting and harvesting dates, crop diversification, and use of improved crop varieties were the major adaptation strategies adopted by farmers. We argue that provision of dams and/or dugouts, postharvest processing facilities, adaptation capacity-building resources, and improved access to markets and credit could enhance the adaptive capacity of male and female heads of farm households to mitigate projected climate change impacts on their livelihood activities and household well-being.

People and Climate Change

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Community Inclusion ◽  
Global Issue ◽  
Political Challenge

Climate change is a profoundly social and political challenge with many social justice concerns around every corner. A global issue, climate change threatens the well-being, livelihood, and survival of people in communities worldwide. Often, those who have contributed least to climate change are the most likely to suffer from its negative consequences and are often excluded from the policy discussions and decisions that affect their lives. This book pays particular attention to the social dimensions of climate change. It examines closely people’s lived experience, climate-related injustice and inequity, why some groups are more vulnerable than others, and what can be done about it—especially through greater community inclusion in policy change. A highlight of the book is its diversity of rich, community-based examples from throughout the Global South and North. Sacrificial flood zones in urban Argentina, forced relocation of United Houma tribal members in the United States, and gendered water insecurities in Bangladesh and Australia are just some of the in-depth cases included in the book. Throughout, the book asks social and political questions about climate change. Of key importance, it asks what can be done about the unequal consequences of climate change by questioning and transforming social institutions and arrangements—guided by values that prioritize the experience of affected groups and the inclusion of diverse voices and communities in the policy process.

Gender, Forests and Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paloma Marcos Morezuelas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Payment Schemes ◽  
Gender Lens ◽  
Change Mitigation

As users of forest products and guardians of traditional knowledge, women have always been involved in forestry. Nevertheless, their access to forest resources and benefits and participation in forest management is limited compared to mens despite the fact that trees are more important to women, who depend on them for their families food security, income generation and cooking fuel. This guide aims to facilitate the incorporation of a gender lens in climate change mitigation and adaptation operations in forests, with special attention to those framed in REDD. This guide addresses four themes value chains, environmental payment schemes, firewood and biodiversity that relate directly to 1) how climate change impacts affect women in the forest and 2) how mitigation and adaptation measures affect womens access to resources and benefits distribution.

Towards Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-158
Author(s):  
Umer Khayyam ◽  
Rida Bano ◽  
Shahzad Alvi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Level Of Motivation ◽  
The University

Abstract Global climate change is one of the main threats facing humanity and the impacts on natural systems as well as humans are expected to be severe. People can take action against these threats through two approaches: mitigation and adaptation. However, mitigations and adaptations are contingent on the level of motivation and awareness, as well as socio-economic and environmental conditions. This study examined personal perception and motivation to mitigate and adapt to climate change among the university students in the capital city of Pakistan. We divided the respondents into social sciences, applied sciences and natural sciences, using logistic regression analysis. The results indicated that students who perceive severity, benefits from preparation, and have more information about climate change were 1.57, 4.98 and 1.63 times more likely to take mitigation and 1.47, 1.14 and 1.17 times more likely to take adaptation measures, respectively. Students who perceived self-efficacy, obstacles to protect from the negative consequences of climate change and who belonged to affluent families were more likely to take mitigation measures and less likely to take adaptation strategies. However, mitigation and adaptation were unaffected by age, gender and study discipline.

scholarly journals Global Potato Yields Increase Under Climate Change With Adaptation and CO2 Fertilisation

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stewart A. Jennings ◽  
Ann-Kristin Koehler ◽  
Kathryn J. Nicklin ◽  
Chetan Deva ◽  
Steven M. Sait ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Modeling Studies ◽  
Potato Yields

The contribution of potatoes to the global food supply is increasing—consumption more than doubled in developing countries between 1960 and 2005. Understanding climate change impacts on global potato yields is therefore important for future food security. Analyses of climate change impacts on potato compared to other major crops are rare, especially at the global scale. Of two global gridded potato modeling studies published at the time of this analysis, one simulated the impacts of temperature increases on potential potato yields; the other did not simulate the impacts of farmer adaptation to climate change, which may offset negative climate change impacts on yield. These studies may therefore overestimate negative climate change impacts on yields as they do not simultaneously include CO2 fertilisation and adaptation to climate change. Here we simulate the abiotic impacts of climate change on potato to 2050 using the GLAM crop model and the ISI-MIP ensemble of global climate models. Simulations include adaptations to climate change through varying planting windows and varieties and CO2 fertilisation, unlike previous global potato modeling studies. Results show significant skill in reproducing observed national scale yields in Europe. Elsewhere, correlations are generally positive but low, primarily due to poor relationships between national scale observed yields and climate. Future climate simulations including adaptation to climate change through changing planting windows and crop varieties show that yields are expected to increase in most cases as a result of longer growing seasons and CO2 fertilisation. Average global yield increases range from 9 to 20% when including adaptation. The global average yield benefits of adaptation to climate change range from 10 to 17% across climate models. Potato agriculture is associated with lower green house gas emissions relative to other major crops and therefore can be seen as a climate smart option given projected yield increases with adaptation.

scholarly journals Risk assessment of climate change impacts and the post-mining land reclamation on the example of the “Brzeziny” Natural Aggregate Mine

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-54
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Pawełczyk
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Land Reclamation ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Mining Area ◽  
Event Tree ◽  
Event Tree Analysis ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Optimal Method

Abstract Mitigation of climate change and adaptation to its effects manifested in increasingly extreme meteorological phenomena are one of the most important contemporary global challenges. In the face of new hazards, numerous measures are taken to adapt environmental components and ventures to climate change, such as the reclamation of degraded areas – recognized as a key adaptation and mitigation action. The success and the property of selecting these measures, including reclamation, requires a detailed recognition of the risk of occurrence of various hazards and of the severity of their consequences in a given area. The study assessed the risk of the climate change impacts on the post-mining area and based on its results an optimal method of reclamation of the “Brzeziny” gravel pit was proposed, aimed at the maximum adaptation of the area to the occurrence of potential climate events. The risk analysis was based on elements of the common risk assessment methodology (CRAM) and enriched with elements of the analytic hierarchy process method (AHP). Moreover, the event tree analysis (ETA) logic technique was used to assess the proposed adaptation measures at the reclamation stage.

scholarly journals As Experiências da Coalizão Adapta Sertão na Disseminação de Tecnologias e Estratégias de Adaptação à Mudança Climática para o Agricultor Familiar do Semiárido Brasileiro (The experience of the Adapta Sertão Coalition in Disseminating Climate Change...)

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 1336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Cesano ◽  
Emilio Lèbre La Rovere ◽  
Martin Obermaier ◽  
Thais Corral ◽  
Laise Santos da Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Small Farmers ◽  
Family Farming ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
Semi Arid

Este artigo descreve a experiência da coalizão Adapta Sertão na experimentação e disseminação de sistemas produtivos que possam tornar o agricultor familiar do Semiárido mais resiliente aos impactos da variação climática atual e da mudança do clima no futuro. Durante as experimentações, a coalizão teve que enfrentar várias barreiras ligadas à falta de integração entre políticas públicas existentes e projetos pilotos em comunidades locais. Hoje, a adaptação à mudança do clima não está sendo considerada na implementação de obras hídricas de pequeno e médio porte, que são de grande importância porque, geralmente, conseguem beneficiar as faixas de população mais pobres e mais suscetíveis aos impactos climáticos. As experiências mostram que é preciso desenvolver, com urgência, políticas públicas inovadoras que consigam integrar o acesso à água com a disseminação de tecnologias de adaptação e de sistemas produtivos mais resilientes à seca.  Palavras - chave: medidas de adaptação, agricultura familiar, semiárido, tecnologia.  The experience of the Adapta Sertão Coalition in Disseminating Climate Change Adaptation Technologies and Strategies for Family Farmers in Semi Arid Brazil  ABSTRACTThis paper describes the experience of the Adapta Sertão coalition in testing and experimenting production systems that have the potential to make small farmers of semi-arid Brazil more resilient to current and future climate change impacts. During the different testing, the coalition had to overcome several barriers linked to a lack of integration between current public policies. For example, today climate change is not considered in the design and implementation of small and medium hydraulic infrastructures. This limits the benefits to the target groups (small farmers) that are more likely to be affected by climate change. The experiences show that it is urgent and necessary to develop public policies to better integrate access to water, dissemination of climate resilient technologies and implementation of production systems more adequate to the semi arid conditions.  Keywords: adaptation measures, family farming, semi-arid, technology.

scholarly journals Possible adaptation measures of agriculture sector in the Nile Delta to climate change impacts

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Attaher ◽  
M. A. Medany ◽  
A. F. Abou-Hadid
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nile Delta ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Yield Reduction ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Delta Region ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
The World ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Abstract. The overall agricultural system in the Nile Delta region is considered as one of the highest intensive and complicated agriculture systems in the world. According to the recent studies, the Nile Delta region is one of the highly vulnerable regions in the world to climate change. Sea level rise, soil and water degradation, undiversified crop-pattern, yield reduction, pests and disease severity, and irrigation and drainage management were the main key factors that increased vulnerability of the agriculture sector in that region. The main objective of this study is to conduct a community-based multi-criteria adaptation assessment in the Nile Delta using a preset questionnaire. A list of possible adaptation measures for agriculture sector was evaluated. The results indicated that the Nile Delta growers have strong perceptions to act positively to reduce the impacts of climate change. They reflected the need to improve the their adaptive capacity based on clear scientific message with adequate governmental support to coop with the negative impacts of climate change.

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