scholarly journals Puerto Rican Farmers' Psychological Awareness of Climate Change, and Adaptation Perceptions after Hurricane Maria

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruz ◽  
Meredith Niles
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Psychological Distance

Strengthening farmers’ adaptive capacity is important for decreasing their vulnerability to natural hazards in this changing climate, and for safeguarding local food systems. One key step in strengthening adaptive capacity is understanding the relationship between farmers’ experience with natural hazards and their perceptions of climate change, and its role in farmers’ decision making around climate change adaptation. Here we explore Puerto Rican farmers’ psychological distance of climate change after experiencing category 4 Hurricane Maria, in order to intersect the roles of experience, perceptions, and motivation for farmers’ decision-making around climate change adaptation. Farmers throughout Puerto Rico were surveyed by Extension Services’ agents (n = 405, 87% response rate) in 2018, eight months after Hurricane Maria. A structural equation model was used to evaluate how reported experience with past events and direct damages by Hurricane Maria related to farmers’ psychological distance of climate change, and the association of these variables to farmers’ motivation to adapt to climate change. We found that farmers psychological distance of climate change is both near and far, since they show a broad awareness to climate change’s impacts both locally and globally in different dimensions (temporal, geographical, and social). Reported experience and direct damages by the hurricane were not linked to their psychological distance of climate change, and these did not relate to their motivation to adapt. These results suggest that using extreme events as a driver for climate belief and action may no longer be relevant, especially in a context where there is a high level of climate change belief and continued threat of extreme events. Thus, broadening analysis beyond individual perceptions as drivers of climate adaptation to how structural dynamics are linked to adaptive capacity could provide better understanding. This study is among the first to study the role of climate change experience and perceptions on farmers’ climate change adaption after an extreme weather event in an island-archipelago setting.

scholarly journals Awareness of climate change's impacts and motivation to adapt are not enough to drive action: A look of Puerto Rican farmers after Hurricane Maria

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0244512
Author(s):  
Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruz ◽  
Meredith T. Niles
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Weather Events

Understanding how perceptions around motivation, capacity, and climate change’s impacts relate to the adoption of adaptation practices in light of experiences with extreme weather events is important in assessing farmers’ adaptive capacity. However, very little of this work has occurred in islands, which may have different vulnerabilities and capacities for adaptation. Data of surveyed farmers throughout Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria (n = 405, 87% response rate) were used in a structural equation model to explore the extent to which their adoption of agricultural practices and management strategies was driven by perceptions of motivation, vulnerability, and capacity as a function of their psychological distance of climate change. Our results show that half of farmers did not adopt any practice or strategy, even though the majority perceived themselves capable and motivated to adapt to climate change, and understood their farms to be vulnerable to future extreme events. Furthermore, adoption was neither linked to these adaptation perceptions, nor to their psychological distance of climate change, which we found to be both near and far. Puerto Rican farmers’ showed a broad awareness of climate change’s impacts both locally and globally in different dimensions (temporal, spatial, and social), and climate distance was not linked to reported damages from Hurricane Maria or to previous extreme weather events. These results suggest that we may be reaching a tipping point for extreme events as a driver for climate belief and action, especially in places where there is a high level of climate change awareness and continued experience of compounded impacts. Further, high perceived capacity and motivation are not linked to actual adaptation behaviors, suggesting that broadening adaptation analyses beyond individual perceptions and capacities as drivers of climate adaptation may give us a better understanding of the determinants to strengthen farmers’ adaptive capacity.

scholarly journals Improving the practice of economic analysis of climate change adaptation

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (03) ◽  
pp. 445-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Li ◽  
Michael Mullan ◽  
Jennifer Helgeson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Investment Project ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
The Us ◽  
Adaptation Decision

Abstract:The development of national and sectoral climate change adaptation strategies is burgeoning in the US and elsewhere in response to damages from extreme events and projected future risks from climate change. Increasingly, decision makers are requesting information on the economic damages of climate change as well as costs, benefits, and tradeoffs of alternative actions to inform climate adaptation decisions. This paper provides a practical view of the applications of economic analysis to aid climate change adaptation decision making, with a focus on benefit-cost analysis (BCA). We review the recent developments and applications of BCA with implications for climate risk management and adaptation decision making, both in the US and other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. We found that BCA is still in early stages of development for evaluating adaptation decisions, and to date is mostly being applied to investment project-based appraisals. Moreover, the best practices of economic analysis are not fully reflected in the BCAs of climate adaptation-relevant decisions. The diversity of adaptation measures and decision-making contexts suggest that evaluation of adaptation measures may require multiple analytical methods. The economic tools and information would need to be transparent, accessible, and match with the decision contexts to be effective in enhancing decision making. Based on the current evidence, a set of analytical considerations is proposed for improving economic analysis of climate adaptation that includes the need to better address uncertainty and to understand the cross-sector and general equilibrium effects of sectoral and national adaptation policy.

scholarly journals Assessment of Climate-Resilient City Pilots in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150005
Author(s):  
FU Lin ◽  
YANG Xiu ◽  
ZHANG Dongyu ◽  
CAO Ying
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Indicator System ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Evaluation Indicator ◽  
Unique System ◽  
Evaluation Indicator System ◽  
The City

In early 2017, China officially implemented the pilot program of the construction of climate-resilient cities in 28 regions, and these pilots have taken a series of initiatives to adapt to climate change. Based on the research and practice on climate change adaptation worldwide, this paper constructs an evaluation indicator system for climate-resilient cities with six primary indicators and 15–21 secondary indicators to assess the progress of the pilot program in a comprehensive manner. The study shows that the consciousness of climate adaptation has been strengthened, their adaptive capacity has been improved, and their climate change monitoring capacity and the basic adaptive capacity have been enhanced. Meanwhile, each pilot city has carried out unique system and mechanism innovation and international cooperation and exchange activities, but the progress is uneven, and there is still room for improvement in the overall adaptive capacity. It is recommended that a system for evaluating the progress of the climate-resilient city pilots be established as soon as possible, and that the review of the adaptation actions and highlights of the city pilots be strengthened, so as to raise the political status of the pilot areas and strengthen their consciousness of climate change adaptation.

scholarly journals Understanding institutional barriers in the climate change adaptation planning process of the city of Beirut: vicious cycles and opportunities

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Zea-Reyes ◽  
Veronica Olivotto ◽  
Sylvia I. Bergh
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Institutional Barriers ◽  
Political Interference ◽  
Poor Individual ◽  
Competing Priorities

AbstractCities around the world are confronted with the need to put in place climate adaptation policies to protect citizens and properties from climate change impacts. This article applies components of the framework developed by Moser and Ekström (2010) onto empirical qualitative data to diagnose institutional barriers to climate change adaptation in the Municipality of Beirut, Lebanon. Our approach reveals the presence of two vicious cycles influencing each other. In the first cycle, the root cause barrier is major political interference generating competing priorities and poor individual interest in climate change. A second vicious cycle is derived from feedbacks caused by the first and leading to the absence of a dedicated department where sector specific climate risk information is gathered and shared with other departments, limited knowledge and scientific understanding, as well as a distorted framing or vision, where climate change is considered unrelated to other issues and is to be dealt with at higher levels of government. The article also highlights the need to analyze interlinkages between barriers in order to suggest how to overcome them. The most common way to overcome barriers according to interviewees is through national and international support followed by the creation of a data bank. These opportunities could be explored by national and international policy-makers to break the deadlock in Beirut.

Indigenous climate change adaptation: New directions for emerging scholarship

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110224
Author(s):  
Danielle Emma Johnson ◽  
Meg Parsons ◽  
Karen Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Cultural Continuity ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Indigenous Development

Although Indigenous peoples’ perspectives and concerns have not always been accommodated in climate change adaptation research and practice, a burgeoning literature is helping to reframe and decolonise climate adaptation in line with Indigenous peoples’ lived experiences. In this review, we bring together climate adaptation, decolonising and intersectional scholarship to chart the progress that has been made in better analysing and responding to climate change in Indigenous contexts. We identify a wealth of literature helping to decolonise climate adaptation scholarship and praxis by attending to colonial and neo-colonial injustices implicated in Indigenous peoples’ climate vulnerability, taking seriously Indigenous peoples’ relational ontologies, and promoting adaptation that draws on Indigenous capacities and aspirations for self-determination and cultural continuity. Despite calls to interrogate heterogenous experiences of climate change within Indigenous communities, the decolonising climate and adaptation scholarship has made limited advances in this area. We examine the small body of research that takes an intersectional approach to climate adaptation and explores how the multiple subjectivities and identities that Indigenous peoples occupy produce unique vulnerabilities, capacities and encounters with adaptation policy. We suggest the field might be expanded by drawing on related studies from Indigenous development, natural resource management, conservation, feminism, health and food sovereignty. Greater engagement with intersectionality works to drive innovation in decolonising climate adaptation scholarship and practice. It can mitigate the risk of maladaptation, avoid entrenchment of inequitable power dynamics, and ensures that even the most marginal groups within Indigenous communities benefit from adaptation policies and programmes.

From vision to action: roadmapping as a strategic method and tool to implement climate change adaptation – the example of the roadmap ‘water sensitive urban design 2020’

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 2251-2259 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. U. Hasse ◽  
D. E. Weingaertner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Process Support ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Water Sensitive Urban Design

As the central product of the BMBF-KLIMZUG-funded Joint Network and Research Project (JNRP) ‘dynaklim – Dynamic adaptation of regional planning and development processes to the effects of climate change in the Emscher-Lippe region (North Rhine Westphalia, Germany)’, the Roadmap 2020 ‘Regional Climate Adaptation’ has been developed by the various regional stakeholders and institutions containing specific regional scenarios, strategies and adaptation measures applicable throughout the region. This paper presents the method, elements and main results of this regional roadmap process by using the example of the thematic sub-roadmap ‘Water Sensitive Urban Design 2020’. With a focus on the process support tool ‘KlimaFLEX’, one of the main adaptation measures of the WSUD 2020 roadmap, typical challenges for integrated climate change adaptation like scattered knowledge, knowledge gaps and divided responsibilities but also potential solutions and promising chances for urban development and urban water management are discussed. With the roadmap and the related tool, the relevant stakeholders of the Emscher-Lippe region have jointly developed important prerequisites to integrate their knowledge, to clarify vulnerabilities, adaptation goals, responsibilities and interests, and to foresightedly coordinate measures, resources, priorities and schedules for an efficient joint urban planning, well-grounded decision-making in times of continued uncertainties and step-by-step implementation of adaptation measures from now on.

Investigating the effects of climate change on structural resistance and actions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Orcesi ◽  
Emilio Bastidas-Arteaga ◽  
Olga Markogiannaki ◽  
Yue Li ◽  
Franck Schoefs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Performance Indicator ◽  
Design Life ◽  
Structural Durability ◽  
Structural Resistance ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Life Function

<p>One major issue when considering the effects of climate change is to understand, qualify and quantify how natural hazards and the changing climate will likely impact infrastructure assets and services as it strongly depends on current and future climate variability, location, asset design life, function and condition. So far, there is no well-defined and agreed performance indicator that isolates the effects of climate change for structures. Rather, one can mention some key considerations on how climate change may produce changes of vulnerability due to physical and chemical actions affecting structural durability or changes of the exposure in terms of intensity/frequency of extreme events. This paper considers these two aspects and associated challenges, considering some recent activities of members of the IABSE TG6.1.</p>

scholarly journals Just Adapt: Engaging Disadvantaged Young People in Planning for Climate Adaptation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna R. Davies ◽  
Stephan Hügel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Young People ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Adaptation Planning ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Climate Action

The visibility of young people in climate change debates has risen significantly since the inception of the Fridays for Future movement, but little is known about the diversity of positions, perspectives and experiences of young people in Ireland, especially with respect to climate change adaptation planning. To close this knowledge gap, this article first interrogates key emergent spaces of public participation within the arena of climate action in Ireland in order to identify the extent of young people’s participation and whether any specific consideration is given to disadvantaged groups. It then tests the impacts of workshops specifically designed to support disadvantaged young people’s engagement with climate change adaptation which were rolled out with a designated Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools school in inner-city Dublin, Ireland. We found limited attention to public participation in climate change adaptation planning generally, with even less consideration given to engaging young people from disadvantaged communities. However, positive impacts with respect to enhanced knowledge of climate change science and policy processes emerged following participation in the workshops, providing the bedrock for a greater sense of self-efficacy around future engagement with climate action amongst the young people involved. We conclude that what is needed to help ensure procedural justice around climate action in Ireland are specific, relevant and interactive educational interventions on the issue of climate change adaptation; interventions which are sensitive to matters of place and difference.

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