Land cover and land management change has a critical role in mitigation scenarios for both global mitigation and local adaptation. Yet the dependence of different land cover and land management change options on the background climate, and the local vs. non-local responses are still poorly understood across different Earth system models.
Adaptation options
Potential adaptation options that can be used to respond to climate risks can be explored further based on specific climate impact and / or adaptation sector of interest.
Publications
This paper provides five scenarios of sustainable irrigation deployment in the 21st century integrated into the framework of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, which account for biophysical irrigation limits and socioeconomic constraints. We find that the potential for sustainable irrigation expansion implied by biophysical limits alone is considerably reduced when socioeconomic factors are considered.
This report looks into the application of CLIMADA (CLIMate ADAptation), a natural catastrophe model that calculates climate risk and potential of adaptation in the Caribbean. The study marks a starting point to determine economic losses and damages as well as adaptation measures for the region which is commonly exposed to natural disasters.
Travel cost method, descriptive statistics and a two-step Heckman method are used to analyse the use and economic value of indigenous seasonal climate forecasts (ISCF) in Benin. ISCF were produced based on the observation of abiotic and biotic indicators in Kandi, Glazoué and Zè with the observations largely undertaken by local elders and professional traditional forecasters.
Burkina Faso is highly vulnerable to the increasing impacts of climate change and currently has large adaptation deficits. Systematic policy document analysis, semi-structured interviews and participant observations were undertaken to explore how scientific information makes its way into national adaptation policy documents from its production to its inclusion into policies.
The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow saw important progress made on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA). However, there is much work still to be done to bring the GGA concept to life. Striking a balance between the GGA serving its ‘global’ purpose, whilst providing sufficient flexibility for countries to describe their own adaptation objectives and progress will ultimately determine the effectiveness of the GGA.
Assessing global progress on human adaptation to climate change is an urgent priority. Although the literature on adaptation to climate change is rapidly expanding, little is known about the actual extent of implementation. This paper systematically screened >48,000 articles using machine learning methods and a global network of 126 researchers to identify eight priority areas for research.
Projects
The Assessing Climate Change Risk in Europe (ACCREU) project aims to advance science on economic impacts from climate change, adaptation actions, and enhancing macroeconomic frameworks for use in policy-making.
Northern hemispheric boreal and temperate forests are important ecosystems and carbon sinks for the planet, but like many land sinks, are being negatively impacted by climate change. This project will analyse and communicate the latest scientific evidence on how climate change is impacting these critical ecosystems and their ability to store carbon.
The Socioeconomic Pathways, Adaptation, and Resilience to a Changing Climate in Europe (SPARCCLE) project aims better inform decision-making on the risks posed by climate change. The project is updating climate risk projections and using these as the bases for creating new mitigation and adaptation strategies, taking into account local vulnerabilities and capacity constraints.
When climate impacts hit, there are those who don’t, or can’t, leave. The Immobility in a changing climate (ITHACA) project looks at the choices and constraints that lead to people’s immobility in the face of climate change, and what ramifications that has for their lives.
The project aims to investigate how changes in land cover and land management can help to meet the mitigation and adaptation objectives of the Paris Agreement, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. The project partners findings will be disseminated through a number of tools, events and products and by closely involving stakeholders and policy-makers, with the aim to support sustainable land use decision-making.
Supported by UNEP, the Economic Growth and Climate Change in Africa research assesses how climate variability affects economic output.
Project Period: 2014 - 2015