Climate Change Resilience Research Articles

Capacity-building for Coastal Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience in the Pacific Islands

Abstract Capacity-building for coastal climate change adaptation in the Pacific Island countries (PICs) is paramount in ensuring resilience building and sustaina-ble management of coastal resources. The Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership (PEUMP) program, through its capacity-building component, works at achieving this by supporting delivery of technical and vocation education and training (TVET) and continuing professional development programs. The PEUMP training programs focus on addressing capacity needs associated with coastal resource management in the PICs, including but not limited to, inadequate economic considerations in coastal fisheries regulations; limited capacity to support community-based coastal resource management; insufficient Pacific-relevant training and qualifications for sustainable coastal resource management through inclusive approaches; and insufficient in-depth understanding of the government’s role in com-munity and ecosystem-based approaches. To address some of these gaps PEUMP delivered TVET programs, micro-qualifications, non-formal training, and professional short courses across 15 PICs. Post-training impact assess-ments found the PEUMP training programs to have improved the knowledge and skills of participants, with more than 70 percent of the par-ticipants gaining new skills and/or knowledge, which they attempted to pass on to their colleagues. A number of lessons learned were identified through the PEUMP training programs, such as the pros and cons of deliv-ering training through virtual means within the Pacific context. The article wraps up with a set of recommendations as a way forward for capaci-ty-building in the Pacific Island region through further inclusive training, localization, and community-based approaches.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

This paper presents and explores How to improve Environmental sustainability with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This study evaluates the potential environmental benefits of AI adoption, such as reductions in climate change, agriculture, ocean health, water resources, weather forecasting, and Disaster resiliency. Upon conducting a thorough analysis of the available literature, it was found that there is a research deficiency in the utilization of artificial intelligence and decision support systems, as well as optimization models. This study employs qualitative analysis to explore sustainable uses of AI and the environmental impact of AI. It emphasizes the importance of promoting environmental sustainability through AI and proposes an Environmental sustainability by AI approach as a prerequisite for developing transparent, responsible, and human-centered AI systems. The study primarily focuses on identifying ways in which AI can be utilized for sustainable environmental practices, with a particular emphasis on the role of AI in promoting environmental sustainability. This study has some limitations, one of which is its limited scope. The paper does not provide an extensive analysis of global environmental policies, which could potentially identify areas for cooperation or common ground. Additionally, the studys focus on environmental sustainability means that it neglects the economic and social aspects of sustainability, which could be further explored. The study can aid stakeholders in comprehending global efforts to enhance environmental sustainability through the implementation of AI. Additionally, as the technology is still in its nascent stage, this study can serve as a catalyst for promoting a sustainable environment approach to the development of AI technologies and their impact on the environment. KEYWORDS: Sustainable Environment, Artificial Intelligence, Environmental sustainability,Environmental sustainability with AI

Assessing the vulnerability to climate change of a semi-arid pastoral social–ecological system: A case study in Hulunbuir, China

Covering approximately 15% of the Earth's land surface and home to 14% of the total global population, semi-arid pastoral areas are characterized by high climatic variability and ecological vulnerability. Recurring extreme weather prodoundly shapes decision-making in semi-arid pastoral social–ecological systems (SAPSES) and their traditional natural-resource-based livelihoods. This study developed a conceptual framework of climate-livelihood vulnerability in SAPSES and evaluated the vulnerability of SAPSES to climate change effects and environmental pressure in Hulunbuir, China using a questionnaire survey and remote sensing monitoring data. Results showed that the study area were impacted substantially by climate change (0.68). However, the vulnerability was relatively low because of the moderate adaptability (0.59) and medium sensitivity of the local socio–ecological system (0.61). Natural factors, including climate variation, natural disasters and ecosystem sensitivity, were the main causes of vulnerability. The increasing vulnerability had been largely slowed by adaptive capital, the traditional cultural organization system and the collective action mechanism. Degraded grassland cover, lack of technical training and high habitation stickiness were the main reasons for increased sensitivity. Natural capital and financial capital were important factors restricting regional adaptive capacity. Therefore, promoting local livestock cooperatives, improving the provision of public services and strengthening ecological governance can help to enhance the climate change resilience and increase the stability and sustainability of SAPSES.

Stand spatial structure outcomes of forest adaptation treatments in northern hardwood forests in North America

Spatial arrangement of trees is determined by a complex suite of factors, including disturbance history, competition, and resource availability. These spatial patterns drive adaptive capacity by influencing arrangement of growing space, neighborhood competitive relationships, and disturbance response, with irregular patterns supporting higher adaptive capacity. While spatial structure in relation to disturbance and climate change resilience has been studied in dry conifer forests and old-growth temperate forests, it has never been explored in the context of climate adaptive management in mesic, second-growth forests. To address this gap, we analyzed tree spatial patterns in second-growth northern hardwood forests under four different climate adaptation management approaches: no action; resistance or resilience to impacts of climate change; and transition to future-adapted forest types. We used spatial point statistics approaches to describe how patterns differed among the four treatments. We found that the treatments focused on future adaptation led to patterns with variable tree spacing and clumping, while those focused on perpetuating current conditions resulted in less pattern variation. This indicates that adaptation strategies that include uneven-aged regeneration methods that restore and maintain tree spatial patterns historically generated by gap dynamics can be successful in altering resource availability patterns and adaptation space in forest stands.

Inclusive diets within planetary boundaries

Inclusive diets within planetary boundaries

Leveraging LiDAR for smart cities climate change resilient: A solar potential case study in a developing area

Smart cities and solar energy are crucial components in climate change adaptation and sustainability. The interrelation with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on the 7th SDG goal, Affordable and Clean Energy for solar energy, and the 11th SDG goal, Sustainable Cities and Communities for smart cities, catalyze the research in this field. Unfortunately, there are some gaps in integrating smart cities and solar energy, especially in the elevation model and solar potential accuracy factors. It is essential because the highly accurate integrated model is enormously beneficial, especially for stakeholders. Therefore, this study is leveraging the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology to provide high-resolution datasets for elevation models and create a precise 3D urban environment model for resilient integrated smart cities climate change. Digital terrain, including Digital Terrain Model and Digital Surface Model, were developed based on precise LiDAR point clouds before two vital surfaces, building rooftops and land parcels, were treated as a fundamental surface for solar potential calculation. The solar potential Return of Investment rate was classified and integrated with the 3D urban environment model. This 3D urban environment model helps visualize and provides a more specific and coherent picture of reality. The potential application of LiDAR data in climate change adaptation and sustainability that can be linked using various technologies and scales is also demonstrated in this study.

International risk of food insecurity and mass mortality in a runaway global warming scenario

Climate and agriculture have played an interconnected role in the rise and fall of historical civilizations. Our modern food system, based on open-environment production and globalised supply chains, is vulnerable to a litany of abiotic and biotic stressors exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change. Despite this evidence, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Current trajectories suggest global warming of ∼2.0–4.9 °C by 2100, however, a worst-case emissions scenario with rapid combustion of all available fossil fuels could cause a rise of ∼12 °C. Even if emissions decline, unprecedented atmospheric CO2-e concentrations risk triggering tipping points in climate system feedbacks that may see global warming exceed 8 °C. Yet, such speculative ‘runaway global warming’ has received minimal attention compared to mainstream low- to mid-range scenarios. This study builds on The Limits to Growth to provide new insights into the international risk of mass mortality due to food insecurity based on a higher-resolution illustration of World3’s ‘runaway global warming’ scenario (∼8–12 °C+). Our simulation indicates rapid decline in food production and unequal distribution of ∼6 billion deaths due to starvation by 2100. We highlight the importance of including high-resolution simulations of high-range global warming in climate change impact modelling to make well-informed decisions about climate change mitigation, resilience and adaptation.

Degree modeling of pistachio farmers' resilience against climate change (Study subject: Rural areas of Rafsanjan and Anar counties, Iran)

The counties of Rafsanjan and Anar are some of the main production centers of pistachio, an important strategic commodity of Iran that is recently facing major environmental problems such as climate change. Therefore, the present research has modeled the degree of resilience of Rafsanjan pistachio and pomegranate farmers against climate change. The study's statistical population was pistachio farmers in the rural areas of Rafsanjan and Anar, which were 27,860 people. To determine the sample size of the research, a sample size of 588 users was calculated using Cochran's formula, with an error level of 4%. Users were then randomly selected in each village as a proportional assignment. A questionnaire was used for data collection. A group of experts determined its validity, and Cronbach's alpha method was used to determine its reliability and internal consistency. The combined method of Vaikor-entropy was used to measure the resilience behavior of Rafsanjan pistachio and pomegranate farmers against climate change. Data processing was done using MATLAB 7.10, AMOSver24, SPSSver25, and Arc-GIS 10.5 software. The results show that the behavior of the studied farmers' resilience against climate change is at an average level. Also, after analysis, the studied villages were divided into six levels, ranging from lack of endurance to resilient. None of the villages fell into the lowest or highest level. There are 8 villages with a very weak resilience level and 22 villages in the weak resilience level. There are 26 villages at the relatively resistant level and 4 villages in the good resilience level. This finding indicates that the investigated pistachio growers are not in good shape in terms of climate change resilience, and they are unable to deal with larger climate change variations, which can have serious effects on the agricultural sector and the villages' livelihoods.

The impact of CSR on rural women custodians of seed, food and climate change resilience in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies’ (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on development of enterprising rural women as custodians of seed, food and traditional knowledge for climate change resilience in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 768 rural women respondents were sampled across the rural areas of the Niger Delta region in Nigeria.FindingsThe results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicated that the meagre interventions of MOCs’ CSR targeted at the empowerment of rural women as custodians of seed, food and traditional knowledge for climate change resilience recorded significant success in improving the role of women in agricultural production, especially in women’s involvement across value chains.Practical implicationsThis suggests that any increase in the MOCs’ CSR targeted at increasing rural women’s access to seed preservation facilities, food processing facilities and extension systems that impact a strong body of knowledge and expertise that can be used in climate change mitigation, disaster reduction and adaptation strategies will enhance women’s responsibilities in households and communities as stewards of natural and household resources and will position them well to contribute to livelihood strategies adapted to changing environmental realities.Social implicationsThis implies that MOCs’ GMoUs’ policies and practices should enhance women’s participation, value and recognize women’s knowledge and enable women as well as men farmers to participate in the decision-making process in agriculture, food production and land governance, as women need to be acknowledged and supported as the primary producers of food in the region, able to both cultivate healthy food and climate change resilience through small-scale agro-ecological farming system.Originality/valueThis research contributes to gender debate in agriculture from a CSR perspective in developing countries and explains the rational for demands for social projects by host communities. It concludes that business has an obligation to help solve problems of public concern.

Reframing Climate Change Resilience: An Intersectional Perspective of Ethnicity and Gender from Vietnam

This study breaks away from traditional macroeconomic-data-based research that often overlooks the subjective experiences of communities and social groups in assessing their resilience to external stressors. Instead, we conducted a nuanced analysis of self-assessments provided by 364 household heads in the Nam Dong District, Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam, to gain a comprehensive understanding of household resilience. Our investigation focused on two upland communities—the Kinh majority and Co Tu ethnic minority households—evaluating their resilience levels in terms of the five livelihood capitals and identifying significant disparities among different ethnic and gender groups. Our findings reveal notable differences in livelihood resilience to climate change and variability among these groups, particularly for women, the poor, and ethnic minorities who exhibit lower resilience levels. This underscores the need for policies and programs designed to improve resilience capacity while taking into account these groups’ cultural and social norms. We suggest focusing on improving financial, human, and social capitals to increase households’ resilience to external shocks. Specifically, building resilience for disadvantaged groups must go hand in hand with promoting their overall well-being and alleviating poverty. Additionally, we recommend tailored training programs to raise awareness among households and strengthening institutional systems to enhance overall resilience.

Organic materials to enhance climate change resilience on shallot production: a review

Shallot is one of the most important vegetables for Indonesian people due to its circumstances as the main ingredient in many Indonesian foods. The use of organic materials as nutrient sources is growing, concerning the increasing consumer demands on organic products and environmental issues such as climate change. Using organic materials helps plants to mitigate and adapt the environmental changes. This review described the potential organic sources as liquid organic fertilizer to support shallot growth. The method of this review was a systematic literature review that was grouped by themes. Liquid organic fertilizer is one of the most effective ways to improve plant production. The results showed that the effect of liquid organic fertilizer depends on the raw materials that were used. Several organic materials that potentially enhance shallot production and quality would be discussed, including rabbit manure, black soldier fly manure (kasgot) and white lead tree leaves. Those organic materials contain a high concentration of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen that might accelerate shallot growth. The potential effect of those organic materials on increasing shallot production would be described briefly.

New Conceptual Model of Social Sustainability: Review from Past Concepts and Ideas.

The social dimension of sustainability has remained relatively underdefined, despite the efforts to specify and integrate this dimension into the general sustainability conversation of scholars and practitioners. This study aims to advance the conversation of social sustainability by examining past the multi-disciplinary literature and policy documents, as well as proposing a comprehensive conceptual model of social sustainability. We present a model with five dimensions: safety and security, equity, adaptability, social inclusion and cohesion, and quality of life. Through these dimensions, we propose social sustainability as a process that strives for effective management and allocation of social capital as a constitutive resource, and the confrontation of such controllable and uncontrollable risks as natural disasters and climate change. Our model was constructed with the purpose of providing scholars, policymakers, and practitioners with a comprehensive guideline to create social sustainability policy with human beings as the priority and cultural awareness as a grounding approach to initiating disaster-related and climate-change resilience.

Detecting low fragmented sites surrounding European protected areas – Implications for expansion of the Natura 2000 network

EU member states have set an ambitious goal of establishing additional protected areas (PAs) preserving 30 % of terrestrial land by 2030, specifying that additions should be of high ecological quality. A targeted selection of existing PA expansions into surroundings marginally fragmented by human infrastructure, may be an efficacious strategy to secure high ecological quality by maximizing PA area, accommodating species movement, and boosting climate change resilience. We used high-resolution data on effective mesh density, a metric measuring landscape fragmentation, in the vicinity of Natura 2000 PAs (N2k) to assess their potential for expansion. Our results show that contrary to most of Central Europe, mountainous and remote territories exhibit the lowest degree of fragmentation in N2k surroundings. Fragmentation in N2k surroundings is highly correlated with national population density, while economic wealth, measured by GDP per capita, plays a minor role. To address the long-standing dilemma of where scarce economic resources in nature conservation do the most-good, we conducted a country-level comparison between fragmentation in N2k surroundings and national expenditures on nature conservation relative to N2k area. Our results show a vast incongruity in resource availability for nature conservation among EU countries. Eastern European states, especially Romania, host underfunded N2k PAs while holding the highest potential for expanding N2k PAs into low fragmented lands. If protecting low fragmented lands is accepted as an efficacious strategy to meet EU biodiversity targets our results could be used to formulate pragmatic conservation decisions, while also ensuring high ecological quality of PA additions under climate change.

Micro-scale UHI risk assessment on the heat-health nexus within cities by looking at socio-economic factors and built environment characteristics: The Turin case study (Italy)

Today the most substantial threats facing cities relate to the impacts of climate change. Extreme temperature such as heat waves and the occurrence of Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomena, present the main challenges for urban planning and design. Climate deterioration exacerbates the already existing weaknesses in social systems, which have been created by changes such as population increases and urban sprawl. Despite numerous attempts by researchers to assess the risks associated with the heat-health nexus in urban areas, no common metrics have yet been defined yet. The objective of this study, therefore, is to provide an empirical example of a flexible and replicable methodology to estimate the micro-scale UHI risks within an urban context which takes into account all the relevant elements regarding the heat-health nexus. For this purpose, the city of Turin has been used as a case study. The methodological approach adopted is based on risk assessment guidelines suggested and approved by the most recent scientific literature. The risk framework presented here used a quantitative estimate per each census tract within the city based on the interaction of three main factors: hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Corresponding georeferenced maps for each indicator have been provided to increase the local knowledge on the spatial distribution of vulnerability drivers. The proposed methodology and the related findings represent an initial stage of the urban risk investigation within the case study. This will include participatory processes with local policymakers and health-stakeholders with a view to guiding the local planning agenda of climate change adaptation and resilience strategies in the City of Turin.

Contribution of Climate-Smart Forage and Fodder Production for Sustainable Livestock Production and Environment: Lessons and Challenges from Ethiopia

Sustainable farm animal raising is dependent on the production of sufficient quantities and quality of forages and fodder, especially in dry regions. Improved forage and feed species are an option for these aspects because adequate feed resources enhance soil health and carbon, generate income, and reduce emissions. Therefore, the purpose of this review paper was to investigate the role of climate-smart forage production in sustaining farm animal production and maintaining the environment in arid and semiarid regions. Seasonal fluctuations in feed supply cause temporal scarcity in Ethiopia, with more acute gaps in dry periods, particularly in drought-prone regions. To address these problems in the country, improve forages to strengthen farm productivity, climate change resilience, and environmental sustainability, particularly in arid and semiarid areas. The country has a long history and is of some exemplary practices in indigenous improved forage production, but the input of improved forage to the total biomass production in feed resources is still low due to many factors like scarcity of land and water for irrigation, lack of awareness, forage seed, and policy recommendations. Despite the potential profits of feed and forage grasses and legumes, the availability of species adapted to a wide range of situations in actual use in the livestock sector has been insufficient. Therefore, it is strongly suggested that climate-resilient forage species be popularized to sustain livestock production and the environment, particularly in the country’s arid and semiarid regions.

Innovations in Crop Management for Building Climate Change Resilience in the Post-Pandemic Era: An In-depth Review

Innovations in Crop Management for Building Climate Change Resilience in the Post-Pandemic Era: An In-depth Review

Assessing effectiveness of nature-based solution with big earth data: 60 years mangrove plantation program in Bangladesh coast

BackgroundIn the climate change context, nature-based solution (NBS) is considered one of the effective tools to increase the resilience of socio-ecological system. The concept coincides with the government’s attempts of afforestation and reforestation programs that have been going on for 60 years in Bangladesh. This study, therefore, envisaged understanding how NBS (mangrove afforestation and reforestation) works to promote climate change resilience through the synthetization of remote sensing-based big earth data, statistical tools, and models. The study took the entire coast of Bangladesh except for Sundarbans Reserve Forest and rolled back to 1962 to work on 60 years’ time series data. Declassified CORONA satellite imagery along with Landsat satellite imagery was used, which is the first-ever attempt in the remote sensing-based ecosystem work in Bangladesh.ResultsThe study's main innovation is to spatially establish the effectiveness of the NBS. The study critically assessed and estimated stable lands and their socio-economic benefits as part of the effectiveness of the NBS. As part of the NBS-derived benefits in the context of climate change, it estimated the sequestrated carbon in mangrove forests. A significant positive relationship was observed between the increase of mangroves and stable lands. Near about 448,011 ha of agricultural land was stabilized due to the NBS intervention whose economic value is 18,837 million USD. In addition, 29,755.71 kt of carbon have been sequestrated due to NBS program.ConclusionsThe concept of NBS is still in the development stage and very little or no work has been done so far in measuring and labeling the effectiveness of the NBS. Therefore, our study can innovatively contribute to the scientific community to show the effectiveness of the NBS in three domains (social, economic and ecological) in the changing climatic scenario.

Green Remittances: A novel form of sustainability finance

Lack of finance is a key barrier to sustainable development. Formal aid and private investment are insufficient and vulnerable to inefficient government-to-government interactions and fail to reach some populations. Remittances from 280 million migrant workers to families at home represent enormous complementary monetary inflows to low- and middle-income countries, and, at $600 billion globally, are three-times greater than “top-down” Official Development Assistance. While commonly intended to alleviate poverty, remittances are rarely targeted towards sustainable development, and can even lead to environmental degradation. There is significant potential to align remittances with sustainability goals, assisted by emerging technologies and digital-finance platforms. Proactive “green remittances” can take the form of cash, goods, or services. They can be targeted to households, transportation, agriculture, entrepreneurial purposes, or community-level infrastructure projects. Applications include renewable energy, energy-efficiency, and a range of climate change resilience and adaptation activities. The article provides a unique synthesis of the existing literature, highlighting the lack of focus on proactively directing remittances toward sustainability, and identifies and assesses early targeting efforts in eight countries. Key policy challenges include awareness-building among remittance providers and recipients, identifying and pooling applicable locally-available goods and services, assuring quality, reducing transaction costs, and scale-up.

Designing a federal portfolio approach for understanding complex climate events: Disruption, resilience, and recovery among small- and medium-sized businesses

At the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate and Adaptation Partnerships (CAP) Program and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Community Resilience Program (CRP) collaborate on a portfolio of research projects, across national and regional scales that explore small- and medium-sized business (SMB) disruption and resilience to complex climate events. Some of the most significant costs associated with the impact of weather and climate disasters stem from disruptions experienced by SMBs, but the full extent of immediate and downstream impacts on communities can only be fully understood over time. The NOAA-NIST portfolio of projects uses social science framing to bridge federal research priorities that typically orient around specific hazards and risks, with sector-specific (i.e. SMBs) climate change resilience needs. This approach lends itself to a deeper understanding of complex climate events by focusing on cascading and compound events, including both acute and chronic exposures, as well as the broader social structures that formulate a variety of socio-economic stressors and that can exacerbate both vulnerability to impacts and recovery potential over time. In this commentary, we describe the development of the research portfolio and highlight the importance of the complex event framework and cross-agency cooperation in the federal approach to understanding and addressing climate change. This approach moves beyond considerations relevant to discrete risk types or events, to uncover the social and sectoral spaces in which conditions for impacts and recovery are formed and realized across multiple geographies and over time. Understanding the formulation of complex events, and in this demonstrative case how SMB operators across communities learn about and implement resilience measures, is key for effective and equitable climate services and building community resilience.

Urban climate forecasts: From risk to resilience. Milan Innovation District's key design aspects for buildings and infrastructures

Climate-related transitional and physical risks are relevant to the building industry. This paper focuses on the physical risk as mitigated and embedded into the design of buildings and infrastructures at the Milan Innovation District (MIND). MIND is an Italian development piloting the transition to resilient green urban planning. This paper discusses the methodology adopted at the early stages of urban and building design to assess the local climate change risks and impacts to be mitigated. As per the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the climate change scenarios are based on projected temperature changes under representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The scenarios considered are 4.5 and 8.5. Climate projections are from the World Bank Change Knowledge Portal and the projected epw Weatherfiles for Milano Linate. These were generated using IES and Weathershift™ tool. The analysis focused on the temperature raise including the masterplan sunlight analysis, the spatial thermal comfort analysis, and the climate change visualization. Results show that the risk of overheating increases. These were discussed in climate change adaptation and resilience planning workshops with a broad range of stakeholders to identify key strategies and functional distribution de-risking strategies. Climate change poses a significant risk to society and resiliency and decarbonization priorities may differ by region. Although, This paper proposes a replicable high-level assessment that can help developers and business leaders in mapping and mitigate the climate capital-related downside risks that have a material impact on their business overall risk profile and capital adequacy.