Enhancing Climate Change Resilience Research Articles

Enhancing Climate Change Resilience: Assessing Adaptation Needs, and Significance of Monitoring and Evaluation Systems

Losses and damages from climate change related extreme weather events and disasters require the development of adaptation measures to increase resilience to the adverse impacts of climate change. In line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement's Global Goal on Adaptation, Parties have developed strategies that include adaptation actions, but there are significant gaps in identification of adaptation needs and the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of actions to address them. Adaptation M&E systems are critical for measuring the success of adaptation actions, providing feedback from the implementation process, and identifying new actions. There is no global methodology for adaptation M&E. At international climate change negotiations in 2023, it was agreed that countries should operationalize their national adaptation M&E systems by 2030. The aim of this study is to evaluate adaptation M&E methodologies developed by countries at different development levels and to present future policy recommendations for the adaptation M&E system planned to be established in Turkey. The study reveals the necessity of up-to-date socio-economic data as well as climate data in determining adaptation needs and adaptation M&E systems. In Turkey, which is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, for the success of adaptation actions, besides the rapid operationalization of adaptation M&E system, establishment of the system with an approach that includes all stakeholders in the process and considers adaptation actions as integrated with disaster risk management actions is an important requirement in the context of Turkey's international commitments, national security, and development.

Street trees provide an opportunity to mitigate urban heat and reduce risk of high heat exposure

Climate change is exacerbating the need for urban greening and the associated environmental and human well-being benefits. Trees can help mitigate urban heat, but more detailed understanding of cooling effects of green infrastructure are needed to guide management decisions and deploy trees as effective and equitable climate adaptation infrastructure. We investigated how urban trees affect summer air temperature along sidewalks within a neighborhood of Tacoma, Washington, USA, and to what extent urban trees reduce risks of high summer temperatures (i.e., the levels regulated by state outdoor heat exposure rules intended to reduce heat-related illnesses). Air temperature varied by 2.57 °C, on average, across our study area, and the probability of daytime temperatures exceeding regulated high temperature thresholds was up to five times greater in locations with no canopy cover within 10 m compared to those with 100% cover. Air temperatures decreased linearly with increasing cover within 10 m, suggesting that every unit of added tree cover can help cool the air. Our findings highlight the value of trees in mitigating urban heat, especially given expected warming with climate change. Protecting existing urban trees and increasing tree cover (e.g., by planting street trees), are important actions to enhance climate change resilience of urban areas.

Analyzing The Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Policies in Poverty Reduction and Mitigating Climate Change Impacts in Africa

This study explores how renewable energy policies in Africa can help alleviate poverty and combat climate change. The research highlights the significant percentage of Africa's population living in poverty without access to electricity, leading to a cycle of poverty and limited education. By examining relevant literature from various sources, the study aims to deepen our understanding of how renewable energy policies can contribute to poverty reduction and climate change mitigation in Africa. The research emphasizes the untapped potential of renewable energy resources in Africa, including hydropower, geothermal, biomass, solar, and wind, which can significantly increase the region's renewable energy capacity. Renewable energy policies are seen as a powerful tool to alleviate poverty by providing affordable, clean, and reliable energy sources in developing countries. Additionally, these policies play a crucial role in mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting the transition to sustainable energy systems. Africa faces significant risks from climate change, such as rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events, making the adoption of renewable energy even more important. The study recommends increasing investment in renewable energy infrastructure, developing effective policies, strengthening partnerships, promoting energy efficiency, integrating renewable energy into national development plans, enhancing climate change resilience, and raising awareness among communities. Embracing renewable energy has the potential to bring about positive change in Africa, improving lives, economies, and ecosystems, while addressing climate change

Amelioration of Abiotic Stress and Climate Change Resilience in Chickpea

Chickpea, an important legume crop high in protein mostly grown under rainfed circumstances in arid and semi-arid climates, where it is extremely subject to abiotic stresses like drought, terminal stress, temperature, water logging at different growth stages throughout the season linked to severe yield losses, particularly when the crop is subjected to unfavorable conditions during the reproductive period, leading to instability in chickpea production around the world. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the strategies employed for ameliorating abiotic stress and enhancing climate change resilience in chickpea. It examines the physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of chickpea plants to abiotic stress and explores the underlying mechanisms involved in stress tolerance. The review highlights the importance of understanding the genetic basis of stress tolerance traits and emphasizes the potential for genetic improvement through breeding and genetic engineering approaches. It examines the physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of chickpea plants to abiotic stress and explores the underlying mechanisms involved in stress tolerance. It discusses the identification of stress-responsive genes, proteins, and metabolites, which can serve as potential targets for crop improvement and the development of stress-tolerant chickpea varieties. In conclusion, this comprehensive review provides valuable insights into the amelioration of abiotic stress and climate change resilience in chickpea. It synthesizes current knowledge, identifies research gaps, and offers practical recommendations for sustainable chickpea production under challenging environmental conditions.

Does food biodiversity protect against malnutrition and favour the resilience to climate change-related events in Amazon Indigenous communities? A protocol for a mixed methods study

Background: Undernutrition is projected to be a major consequence of climate change. Biodiversity could enhance climate change resilience by improving nutritional outcomes and providing healthy food resources during and/or after climate-related events. For Indigenous populations who currently base their diet on local biodiversity, rapid climate changes may affect their ability to produce, access or gather food and consequently impact their nutritional status. There is a knowledge gap regarding whether nutritional status among Indigenous populations is better among those who consume a diet with greater biodiversity than those who have a diet with low biodiversity. Objective: This study aims to investigate the role of food biodiversity (FBD) in nutritional resilience to extreme flooding events of Shawi Amazon Indigenous adults living in Peruvian communities that have experienced extreme floods in the past five years. Methods: This study will use a mixed-method sequential explanatory design. The quantitative component includes a cross-sectional survey to assess the association between food biodiversity (FBD) and the prevalence of anaemia in adults aged 15 to 60 years old (n=365). Anaemia will be evaluated using blood hemoglobin and serum ferritin. FBD will be measured with a food frequency questionnaire and a 24-hour dietary recall. Soil-transmitted helminth infections, malaria, and inflammatory biomarkers will also be evaluated. Qualitative component will include a community-based participatory approach to investigate the role of FBD in the responses to extreme floods. Male (n=14) and female (n=14) participants, previously identified in the quantitative phase with high and low levels of FBD, will be invited to participate in a Photovoice activity and semi-structured interviews. A analytical framework for climate change resilience will be used to integrate the data. Discussion: Findings will be integrated to identify features of diet quality to suggest nutritional interventions that are resilient to changing climatic conditions in the Amazon and respect Indigenous views.

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.

Does food biodiversity protect against malnutrition and favour the resilience to climate change-related events in Amazon Indigenous communities? A protocol for a mixed methods study.

Background : Undernutrition is projected to be a major consequence of climate change. Biodiversity could enhance climate change resilience by improving nutritional outcomes and providing healthy food resources during and/or after climate-related events. For Indigenous populations who currently base their diet on local biodiversity, rapid climate changes may affect their ability to produce, access or gather food and consequently impact their nutritional status. There is a knowledge gap regarding whether nutritional status among Indigenous populations is better among those who consume a diet with greater biodiversity than those who have a diet with low biodiversity. Objective : This study aims to investigate the role of food biodiversity (FBD) in nutritional resilience to extreme flooding events of Shawi Amazon Indigenous adults living in Peruvian communities that have experienced extreme floods in the past five years. Methods : This study will use a mixed-method sequential explanatory design. The quantitative component includes a cross-sectional survey to assess the association between food biodiversity (FBD) and the prevalence of anaemia in adults aged 15 to 60 years old (n=365). Anaemia will be evaluated using blood hemoglobin and serum ferritin. FBD will be measured with a food frequency questionnaire and a 24-hour dietary recall. Soil-transmitted helminth infections, malaria, and inflammatory biomarkers will also be evaluated. The qualitative component will include a community-based participatory approach to investigate the role of FBD in the responses to extreme floods. Male (n=14) and female (n=14) participants, previously identified in the quantitative phase with high and low levels of FBD, will be invited to participate in a Photovoice activity and semi-structured interviews. A analytical framework for climate change resilience will be used to integrate the data. Discussion : Findings will be integrated to identify nutritional resilience indicators that can inform adaptative interventions to changing climatic conditions in the Amazon and that respect Indigenous worldviews.

Growth-limiting drought stress induces time-of-day-dependent transcriptome and physiological responses in hybrid poplar.

Drought stress negatively impacts the health of long-lived trees. Understanding the genetic mechanisms that underpin response to drought stress is requisite for selecting or enhancing climate change resilience. We aimed to determine how hybrid poplars respond to prolonged and uniform exposure to drought; how responses to moderate and more severe growth-limiting drought stresses differed; and how drought responses change throughout the day. We established hybrid poplar trees (Populus × ‘Okanese’) from unrooted stem cutting with abundant soil moisture for 6 weeks. We then withheld water to establish well-watered, moderate and severe growth-limiting drought conditions. These conditions were maintained for 3 weeks during which growth was monitored. We then measured photosynthetic rates and transcriptomes of leaves that had developed during the drought treatments at two times of day. The moderate and severe drought treatments elicited distinct changes in growth and development, photosynthetic rates and global transcriptome profiles. Notably, the time of day of sampling produced the strongest effect in the transcriptome data. The moderate drought treatment elicited global transcriptome changes that were intermediate to the severe and well-watered treatments in the early evening but did not elicit a strong drought response in the morning. Stable drought conditions that are sufficient to limit plant growth elicit distinct transcriptional profiles depending on the degree of water limitation and on the time of day at which they are measured. There appears to be a limited number of genes and functional gene categories that are responsive to all of the tested drought conditions in this study emphasizing the complex nature of drought regulation in long-lived trees.

COP1 dynamics integrate conflicting seasonal light and thermal cues in the control of Arabidopsis elongation

As the summer approaches, plants experience enhanced light inputs and warm temperatures, two environmental cues with an opposite morphogenic impact. Key components of this response are PHYTOCHROME B (phyB), EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3), and CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1). Here, we used single and double mutant/overexpression lines to fit a mathematical model incorporating known interactions of these regulators. The fitted model recapitulates thermal growth of all lines used and correctly predicts thermal behavior of others not used in the fit. While thermal COP1 function is accepted to be independent of diurnal timing, our model shows that it acts at temperature signaling only during daytime. Defective response of cop1-4 mutants is epistatic to phyB-9 and elf3-8, indicating that COP1 activity is essential to transduce phyB and ELF3 thermosensory function. Our thermal model provides a unique toolbox to identify best allelic combinations enhancing climate change resilience of crops adapted to different latitudes.

Smallholders’ adaptation to climate change in Western Kenya: Considering socioeconomic, institutional and biophysical determinants

Climate change has stimulated detrimental threats to the global agricultural ecosystems. The study investigated i) the climate change perceptions, drivers, effects, and barriers, and ii) determinants of climate change adaptation among smallholder farmers in Western Kenya. The study interviewed 300 households using a semi-structured face-to-face interview schedule. The study employed two indices, i.e., weighted average and problem confrontation, and two regression models, i.e., Binary logistic and Poisson regression. The findings indicated that smallholder farmers were aware of climate change, its drivers, and its effects. The main barriers to climate change adaptation were unpredictable weather patterns, financial constraints, and limited agricultural training. Group membership and site negatively influenced climate change adaptation. Household head's education, experience, remittance receipt, access to credit on inputs, climate change perception, access to weather information, and cultivated farm size positively influenced climate change adaptation. The findings underscore the importance of tailoring smallholder farmers' dynamics in climate change policies to enhance adaptation. The negative prediction of group membership needs to be emphasized to prevent demotivating farmers from joining community associations. The study highlights the need to incorporate farmers' perceptions of climate change, climate awareness creation, and monetary assistance to enhance climate change resilience among smallholder farmers.

Enhancing climate change resilience of ecological restoration — A framework for action

Ecological restoration is a tool for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and yet its outcomes are susceptible themselves to climate change impacts. Drawing on the literature documenting this in theory and practice, we present a comprehensive overview of climate change risks and considerations across the whole life cycle of a restoration initiative. The resulting framework identified seven areas of restoration design and implementation in which climate change is important to address: setting restoration objectives, selecting sites and managing connectivity, choosing target species and ecosystems, managing key ecosystem interactions and micro-climates, identifying and mitigating site-level climate change risks, aligning the project with long-term policies, and designing a monitoring framework that enables adaptive management. A scan of restoration projects focussing on two regions – Brazil and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN – revealed limited inclusion of these considerations in practice, with less than 5% of the projects evidently addressing at least one of the seven areas. We discuss two projects showing good practice in climate resilient restoration: restoration of Atlantic forest in Brazil that plans for climate change in connectivity and hydrological management, species selection, and policy alignment, and crayweed underwater forest restoration in Sydney, Australia, whose careful attention to species provenance, genotype measurement and monitoring provided a “future-proofing” approach to restoration success in the long term. Building on such examples, our framework can be used as a tool to support global restoration targets and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030 through more climate resilient restoration.

Highly reflective algae for enhancing climate change resilience in rice production

AbstractThere is an urgent need for enhancing climate change resilience in rice production. Here, we report a reflective algal mulching‐based culture practice to attain a simple and low‐cost biological method for enhancement of climate change resilience. The dense mulching of Rhizoclonium sp. in field water highly reflected sunlight in the visible and infrared regions, thus significantly decreasing the root zone temperature, and significantly and simultaneously mitigated CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions through gas retention and removal in the field water layer, as well as reducing gas production. The algae could also enhance rice growth and soil fertility.

Can Social Innovation Address Africa’s Twin Development Challenges of Climate Change Vulnerability and Forced Migrations?

Some studies indicate that climate change policy failures are endemic to policymakers in both developed and developing countries. Consequently, the increased vulnerability of people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) can partly be attributed to developed-country stakeholders’ inability to understand climate change vulnerability in the context of SSA and a fear on the part of policymakers to implement substantive policy innovations. In order to determine how social innovation and entrepreneurship can be harnessed to enhance climate change resilience and improve the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an inductive analysis using secondary data consisting of research articles, policy briefs, project reports and case studies was undertaken. Agribusiness development–focused entrepreneurship and social innovation were noted to have the potential to facilitate the development of new institutions and social systems that can correct structural inequalities and improve investments in SSA’s agriculture sector, thereby reducing local vulnerabilities to climate change and facilitating the attainment of SDG 16 (i.e., promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development). This article is among the foremost in highlighting how climate change policies that integrate entrepreneurship and rural-to-rural migration as means to reduce vulnerability can reduce youth unemployment and support the ‘leave no one behind’ principle.

Potential benefits of genotype-based adaptation strategies for grain sorghum production in the Texas High Plains under climate change

Adaptation measures are required to enhance climate change resilience of agricultural systems and reduce risks associated with climate change at both regional and global scales. The Texas High Plains is a semi-arid region that faces major challenges from climate change risks and dwindling groundwater supply from the exhaustible Ogallala Aquifer for sustaining irrigated agriculture. The overall goal of this study was to assess the impacts of climate change on yield and water use of grain sorghum and identify optimum climate change adaptation strategies for three study sites in the Texas High Plains. Future climate data projected by nine Global Circulation Models (GCMs) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) of greenhouse gas emissions (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5) were used as input for the DSSAT CSM-CERES-Sorghum model. The climate change adaptation strategies were designed by modifying crop genotype parameters to incorporate drought tolerance, heat tolerance, high yield potential, and long maturity traits. Irrigated and dryland grain sorghum yield and irrigation water use were projected to decrease at varying percentages at the study sites in the future. On an average (of 9 GCMs), irrigated grain sorghum yield is expected to decrease by 5–13 % and 16–27 % by mid-century (2036–2065) and late-century (2066–2095), respectively under RCP 8.5 compared to the baseline (1976–2005). The irrigation water use is expected to decrease by 7–9% and 14–16 % by the mid-century and late-century, respectively. Among the adaptation strategies, an ideotype with high yield potential trait (10 % higher partitioning to the panicle, radiation use efficiency, and relative leaf size than the reference cultivar) resulted in maximum grain sorghum yield gains in the future under both irrigated (6.9 %–17.1 %) and dryland (7.5 %–17.1 %) conditions, when compared to the reference cultivar. Enhancing drought tolerance by increasing root density at different soil depths also resulted in a significantly higher irrigated grain sorghum yield than the reference cultivar. A longer maturity cultivar will likely increase irrigation water use and, therefore, is not recommended for water limited conditions.

Bridging the disciplinary gap in conservation agriculture research, in Malawi. A review

Conservation Agriculture has emerged as a popular form of climate smart agriculture aimed at enhancing climate change resilience for smallholder farmers across Africa. Despite positive biophysical results, adoption rates remain low. It has been acknowledged that improved understanding of farmer decision-making is needed due to the variation in socio-economic and agro-ecological contexts which drives the research agenda to answer the question ‘what forms of Conservation Agriculture work, where, and why?’. To fully understand this question, we need to approach the study of Conservation Agriculture within complex farming systems by collating and integrating different forms of knowledge. In this paper, we discuss (1) a comparison of disciplinary approaches to evaluating Conservation Agriculture in Malawi, (2) the identification of the knowledge gaps that persist at the intersection of these disciplines and (3) recommendations for alternative and interdisciplinary approaches in addressing these knowledge gaps. With a focus on published studies from Malawi, we show that the Conservation Agriculture literature represents two distinct approaches to addressing the question ‘what forms of Conservation Agriculture work, where, and why?’, namely agro-ecological and socio-economic and that neither of these approaches can address the full scope of this question, in particular its ‘why’ component. To overcome these challenges, there is a need for access to compatible, comprehensive data sets, methodological approaches including farmer participation and ethnography, through on-farm trial research as a middle ground between disciplinary approaches.

Parametric loss and damage insurance schemes as a means to enhance climate change resilience in developing countries

ABSTRACT Article 8 of the 2015 Paris Agreement calls on the parties to cooperate to address ‘loss and damage’ associated with the adverse effects of climate change. Insurance is one of the solutions that the provision points to in this respect. This paper examines whether so-called parametric risk pooling may provide a useful tool to this end by examining lessons from three multi-country parametric risk pooling schemes. The examination shows that parametric risk pooling schemes require careful design in order to work optimally and that even then, they do not represent a miracle solution. In particular, the paper points out that the three schemes only provide a limited response in the period directly after a devastating hazard has struck. Therefore, the ensuing support required must come from other sources. The paper concludes that parametric risk pooling may provide a valuable tool for addressing loss and damage, but must be complemented by a range of other tools to comprehensively address the loss and damage challenges posed by climate change. Key policy insights Parametric insurance schemes can provide a useful tool to respond to natural hazards caused by climate change in developing countries. Parametric insurance schemes require careful design and only provide interim coverage between the time when a natural hazard occurs and when classic humanitarian aid arrives. Due to continued financial limitations on the part of the insurance-takers, parametric insurance in developing countries is dependent upon donor assistance.

Enhancing Climate Change Resilience Through Microfinance: Redefining the Climate Finance Paradigm to Promote Inclusive Growth in Africa

Poverty, inequality, unemployment, and unsustainable resource consumption are prevalent in Africa due to a lack of inclusive growth. The impacts of climate change are also considered to have hindered progress on achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Through literature reviews and policy analyses, this article presents suggestions on how inclusive growth can be attained in the post-2015 development agenda, and also presents a framework to enable microfinance institutions to promote both inclusive growth, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The article shows that microfinance can support the mobilization of resources for climate change programs; hence, financial inclusion should be incorporated in climate change policies.