Integrating Climate Change Adaptation Research Articles

Assessing The Impacts Of Climate Change On Desertification In Niger State, Nigeria

This study explores the impacts of climate change on desertification in Niger State, Nigeria. Desertification, exacerbated by climate change, poses significant challenges to ecosystems and communities in Niger State, Nigeria. This study examines the key drivers of desertification, its socio-economic impacts, and the effectiveness of adaptation and mitigation strategies. A survey was conducted among 120 respondents, revealing overgrazing and climate change-induced factors as the primary drivers of desertification, with deforestation, poor land management practices, and urbanization also playing significant roles. Respondents highlighted the complex interactions between climate change-induced factors, such as changes in rainfall patterns and increased temperatures, and their contribution to desertification processes. The socio-economic impacts of desertification were pronounced, including water scarcity, decreased agricultural productivity, increased poverty, and loss of biodiversity. While some adaptation and mitigation strategies are being implemented, there is a need for greater community involvement, policy support, and integrated approaches to enhance resilience and promote sustainable land management practices. These findings underscore the urgency of coordinated action to address desertification in Niger State, Nigeria, emphasizing the importance of holistic strategies that integrate climate change adaptation, sustainable development, and community empowerment.

Integrating Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Social Protection for Enhanced Resilience: Evidence from the Somali Region, Ethiopia

Integrating climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and social protection is crucial for enhancing resilience in vulnerable communities. This study aims to assess the level of integration among these three approaches in the Somali Region, Ethiopia. A qualitative methodology, involving a meta-analysis of 122 projects and program documents was conducted to evaluate the integration levels of the approaches. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were also used to gather qualitative insights from stakeholders. The findings reveal that the integration of the three approaches, in the form of adaptive social protection, is limited. While social protection and disaster risk reduction are combined more effectively, the inclusion of climate change adaptation remains insufficient. Duplication of activities is common in programs and projects, wasting resources. The study recommends implementing an adaptive social protection approach with clear institutional arrangements and stakeholder coordination to enhance resilience and resource efficiency.

Integrating Climate Change Adaptation Strategies into Urban Policies for Sustainable City Resilience: Barriers and Solutions in the Central African City of N’Djaména

Climate change has become a serious threat to human life. This study aims to reveal the face of climate policies and the integration of urban adaptation into urban planning policies in the city of N’Djaména. To achieve this, we adopted a methodology combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Surveys of key informants were used to gather information on how to achieve the objectives set. The results show that key informants believe that climate policies have not met the expectations of the city’s citizens in terms of effectiveness and positive impacts. These players assume that urban policy planning does not take urban adaptation into account. The four categories of barriers hindering the integration of urban adaptation and its implementation relate to a lack of information and knowledge, political ill will, and organization and constraints linked to the mobilization and availability of resources. This study suggests the sharing of information, knowledge, and communication involving all stakeholders in N’Djaména’s urban development, the organization of the city’s state and municipal structures, the involvement and support of political authorities, greater access to financing, and the establishment of professional networks of expertise as catalysts for success.

Exploring Gaps and Strategies: A Pilot Interview for Enhancing Disaster Risk Governance in Malaysia through Integrated Climate Change Adaptation for Resilience in the Future

Global climate change has led to a surge in climate-related disasters. Effectively managing these crises requires adopting disaster risk reduction strategies that account for climate change's profound impact. This article explores gaps in Malaysia's disaster risk reduction governance and climate change adaptation through literature review and preliminary interview. It highlights critical shortcomings which are outdated policies, challenges in multiple disciplinary collaboration and data sharing, and a lack of a robust strategic plan. While these findings are not exhaustive, they open the opportunity and emphasize the pressing need for further research. Future studies should focus on uncovering networks among actors, policies, and practices in Malaysia to develop a governance framework for a safer and more sustainable future amid evolving climate challenges. This requires thorough examination of the overlaps and distinctions in both fields, paving the way for a governance strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals, and Sendai Framework.

Exploring food system resilience to the global polycrisis in six Asian countries.

The world is currently in the midst of a global food crisis brought about and exacerbated by a series of mutually reinforcing shocks to food systems This study investigated the resilience of food systems in six Asian countries (Bangladesh, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Philippines, and Sri Lanka) amidst the global 'polycrisis' caused by COVID-19, geopolitical conflicts, and climate change. Trend analyses were performed for 19 indicators sourced from global databases and World Food Programme national data, representing the four domains of food system resilience: exposure to shocks; resilience capacities and agro- and food diversity, resilience responses and strategies; and long-term resilience outcomes. The analysis revealed that all six countries experienced the effects of the 'polycrisis', leading to diverse impacts on exchange rates, with Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Lao PDR facing significant currency depreciation. While most countries increased crop production and decreased food imports during the crisis, government economic support during the pandemic varied widely. Resilience outcomes, including national food price inflation and the proportion of populations facing food insecurity, witnessed upward variations. Overall, countries with higher resilience capacities at the start of the 'polycrisis' showed less severe long-term resilience outcomes. Our findings highlight the varied challenges and resilience capacities across each country, influenced by a complex interplay of economic, political, agricultural, and food affordability factors crucial for determining long-term resilience in their food systems. Recommendations for future research include focusing on resilience assessment in food systems, integrating climate change adaptation measures, and developing early intervention strategies.

Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Flood Risk Management: Global Perspectives

Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Flood Risk Management: Global Perspectives

Integrating climate change adaptation into water-energy-food-environment nexus for sustainable development in East African Community

The East African Community (EAC) region is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which pose significant challenges to water, energy, food, and environment systems. To address these challenges and promote sustainable development, it is essential to adopt an integrated approach that considers the complex interactions and trade-offs within the WEFE nexus. This research article focuses on the integration of climate change adaptation into the Water-Energy-Food-Environment (WEFE) nexus for sustainable development in EAC. In this study, the Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method was used for five proposed subsystems to assess both long and short-term influence of WEFE on economic development in EAC across the 1970 to 2021 period. The long-run results disclose that with an increase of 1% in agricultural production, renewable energy consumption, total emissions and total water withdraw increase economic development by 0.39%, 0.9%, 0.33%, 0.9%, respectively. The equilibrium of short-to long-run adjusted at the yearly rate of 0.18%. However, the challenges have seen in the light of climate change impacts including landslides, soil erosion, floods, and rise of the sea level which leads to environmental degradation and affect WEFE nexus and sustainable development. Therefore, the study argues that a fundamental strategy for overcoming these difficulties is to incorporate climate adaptation into the WEFE nexus. As such, it identifies the key drivers and pressures of climate change on the nexus, and proposes a framework for integrating climate change adaptation into WEFE nexus planning and management.

Policy integration of climate change adaptation in Central America: A review for development, land‐use planning, and risk management

AbstractCentral American countries have been described as highly exposed to the negative effects of climate change (CC). Policies dedicated to CC and climate policy integration—mainstreaming—into sectoral policies have been considered key strategies. Previous research has documented the progress made in this region regarding dedicated policies, but regarding policy integration, information is limited or nonexistent. This article aims to address this gap by studying the level of integration of climate‐change adaptation considerations into three prioritized sectors—general development planning, risk management, and land‐use planning—by applying three criteria for policy integration—inclusion, consistency, and weighting. The results show a progressive trend to integrate adaptation into the policy outputs of the three sectors in all countries. Still, the operational level of instruments in some cases fails to fulfill the mandates to mainstream climate adaptation, and consistency is limited. These failures are indicators of lower levels of organizational maturity, which has also been detected in other developing countries and is connected to conflict and tradeoff avoidance behaviors as a filtering strategy to ensure progress at the cost of leaving key issues outside the mainstreaming process.

Woody species diversity and the carbon stock potentials of different land use types in agroecosystem of Jimma Ganati District, Western Ethiopia

We investigated the impact of land use types and topographical variables on the diversity of wood species and their carbon stocks in the studied agroecosystems. A generic allometric equation developed for woody plants in agricultural landscapes was used to estimate the carbon stock. We used a mixed-effects linear model using the lmer function in the lme4 package to test the effects of land use types and topographic variables on wood species diversity (Shannon diversity) and stem carbon stock potential. Our study result showed that there is significantly higher woody diversity (P < 0.05) in forests, home gardens and riverine than in grazing lands and croplands. Conversely, woody DBH (cm) and height (m) are relatively higher for croplands followed by grazing land, but lower for home garden and forest land use. There is a statistically significant difference between land use types in their carbon stock (χ² (4) = 18.164, p=0.0011), with forest having the highest total carbon stock, followed by home gardens, but grazing land having the relatively lower total carbon stock of woody species. The study finds that species diversity has a positive and significant (P<0.05) effect on both aboveground and belowground carbon stocks. However, its effect is modulated by land use types, where it is stronger in forest patches, but weaker in more disturbed land use types (e.g., grazing lands and cropland). The study also finds that topographical variables (elevation, slope, and aspects) have no significant (P>0.05) effect on aboveground and belowground carbon stock. The tree species' structural attributes such as height, DBH size, and basal area (BA) have a positive and statistically significant (P < 0.05) effect on carbon stock. The study also found that only a few high DBH class (old growth) tree individuals that are deliberately spared in cropland and grazing land matrix have a high carbon stock contribution. For example, seven species, Podocarpus falcatus, Ficus vasta, Prunus africana, Schefflera abyssinica, Ficus sur, Ekebergia capensis, and Apodytes dimidiate, contribute an estimated 70% of the estimated total carbon stock in the landscapes. These results indicate the need to protect such scattered old-trees in agricultural landscapes both for biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration thereby integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies into subsistence farming systems.

Integrating climate change adaptation policies in spatial development planning in hyperarid regions of Kerman province, Iran

In recent years, lifestyle changes and urbanization of societies, as well as macro-environmental changes, i.e. climate changes (CCs), have caused changes in the land spatial structure and the transfer of resources between different economic sectors of the land. The development of long-term spatial development plans (SDPs) needs to be compatible with CCs, especially in hyperarid areas with low supplies and high demands. In this research, machine learning methods; including Cellular Automata (CA), Random Forest (RF) and regression models through PLUS model were used to simulate the amount of supplies and demands based on land cover (LC) maps during the years 2000, 2010 and 2020 in the hyperarid areas of Kerman, Iran. Then, the best predicted model (Kappa = 0.94, overall accuracy = 0.98) was used to simulate changes in LC classes under climate change scenarios (CCSs) for 2050. The results showed the efficiency of machine learning in simulating land cover changes (LCCs) under CCSs. Findings revealed that SDPs of these areas are not compatible under any possible consideration of CCSs. The modeling results showed that spatial development plans under CCSs is not environmentally efficient and there is no compatibility between supplies, based on agricultural lands, and demands, based on increased population, by 2050. Overall, under the scenario of RCP 8.5, man-made, agriculture and natural LC classes with 106.9, 2.9, and 18.6% changes, respectively, showed the greatest changes compared to 2020. Population control, adjustment of infrastructures, and changes in LC plans can reduce socio-economical and socio-environmental problems in the future of hyperarid areas to some extent.

Applying climate change refugia to forest management and old-growth restoration.

Recent studies highlight the potential of climate change refugia (CCR) to support the persistence of biodiversity in regions that may otherwise become unsuitable with climate change. However, a key challenge in using CCR for climate resilient management lies in how CCR may intersect with existing forest management strategies, and subsequently influence how landscapes buffer species from negative impacts of warming climate. We address this challenge in temperate coastal forests of the Pacific Northwestern United States, where declines in the extent of late-successional forests have prompted efforts to restore old-growth forest structure. One common approach for doing so involves selectively thinning forest stands to enhance structural complexity. However, dense canopy is a key forest feature moderating understory microclimate and potentially buffering organisms from climate change impacts, raising the possibility that approaches for managing forests for old-growth structure may reduce the extent and number of CCR. We used remotely sensed vegetation indices to identify CCR in an experimental forest with control and thinned (restoration) treatments, and explored the influence of biophysical variables on buffering capacity. We found that remotely sensed vegetation indices commonly used to identify CCR were associated with understory temperature and plant community composition, and thus captured aspects of landscape buffering that might instill climate resilience and be of interest to management. We then examined the interaction between current restoration strategies and CCR, and found that selective thinning for promoting old-growth structure had only very minor, if any, effects on climatic buffering. In all, our study demonstrates that forest management approaches aimed at restoring old-growth structure through targeted thinning do not greatly decrease buffering capacity, despite a known link between dense canopy and CCR. More broadly, this study illustrates the value of using remote sensing approaches to identify CCR, facilitating the integration of climate change adaptation with other forest management approaches.

Development of approaches for transport infrastructure adaptation to climatic change

Aim: Development of transport infrastructure adaptation for climatic change.&#x0D; Materials and Methods: The research method was the analysis of climate change adaptation approaches, climate change adaptation action programs, and adaptation plans at the local, regional and sectoral levels.&#x0D; Results: The proposed approach consists of an adaptation strategy and an implementation plan for the adaptation strategy to integrate climate change adaptation activities into existing management. The outcome of the development of approaches to the adaptation of the transport industry to climate change should be an adaptation strategy and plan.&#x0D; Conclusion: The iterative structure makes it possible to adjust adaptation measures, taking into account the refinement of climate change forecasts, socio-economic and technological changes. The proposed approach allows to determine the level of industry adaptation readiness for adaptation measures improving.

Applying ensemble ecosystem model projections to future-proof marine conservation planning in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Climate change is altering marine ecosystems across the globe and is projected to do so for centuries to come. Marine conservation agencies can use short- and long-term projections of species-specific or ecosystem-level climate responses to inform marine conservation planning. Yet, integration of climate change adaptation, mitigation, and resilience into marine conservation planning is limited. We analysed future trajectories of climate change impacts on total consumer biomass and six key physical and biogeochemical drivers across the Northwest Atlantic Ocean to evaluate the consequences for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) in Atlantic Canada. We identified climate change hotspots and refugia, where the environmental drivers are projected to change most or remain close to their current state, respectively, by mid- and end-century. We used standardized outputs from the Fisheries and Marine Ecosystem Model Intercomparison Project and the 6th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Our analysis revealed that, currently, no existing marine conservation areas in Atlantic Canada overlap with identified climate refugia. Most (75%) established MPAs and more than one-third (39%) of the established OECMs lie within cumulative climate hotspots. Our results provide important long-term context for adaptation and future-proofing spatial marine conservation planning in Canada and the Northwest Atlantic region.

Implementing Climate Change Adaptation in Territory Spatial Planning Systems: Challenges and Approaches Based on Practices in Guiyang.

Integrating climate change adaptation into spatial planning has become a global goal in the field of spatial planning. Despite the various relevant policies proposed by governments, there is still a lack of common practice in the field of climate change research and territory spatial planning preparation and research in China. In this study, climate change adaptation planning in the territory spatial planning system (TSPS), based upon risk assessment, is explored using downscaled climate change prediction data (derived from CMIP5) and prefectural master territory spatial planning (MTSP) data from Guiyang. The study found that such practices, despite their feasibility, still face systemic challenges given the current planning system in China, e.g., the deficiency of climate change impact data and analyses, the absence of essential planning tools, and the unsuitability of the current planning system for the integration of adaptation actions. We propose corresponding approaches based on our empirical planning experience and discuss prospects for relevant research and planning.

Climate change adaptation in ex-ante assessment of legal acts – a proposal of indicators for Poland

This article is aimed at developing a proposal of indicators to integrate climate change adaptation into the process of designing legislation and assessing the effectiveness of this legislation in adapting the society, the economy and the environment to climate change. Based on a review of climate change adaptation monitoring indicators used in selected European countries, an assessment of potential indicators according to the proposed criteria was carried out and a proposed list of indicators for monitoring climate change adaptation in selected economic sectors was developed for use in the ex-ante assessment of legislation.&#x0D; The proposed set of indicators can be used for ex-ante assessment of legal acts in terms of implementation of climate change adaptation requirements - both to determine the values of indicators selected for a given sector that are relevant to climate change adaptation, and then to monitor changes in these indicators to assess the effects of implementing legal regulations in terms of supporting the state's climate change adaptation policy.

Soil and Water Bioengineering (SWB) is and has always been a nature-based solution (NBS): a reasoned comparison of terms and definitions

Nature-based solutions (NBS) is a collective term for solutions that are based on natural processes, in healthy or restored ecosystems, and their services to address the three pillars of sustainability, including climate-related challenges. Soil and Water Bioengineering (SWB or SWBE) is a hazard mitigation and restoration discipline formally established and structured since the aftermath of World War II, but finding its roots in age old applications, which have many objectives in common with NBS. However, a structured comparison of SWB and NBS terminologies and objectives is lacking, and this is much needed to highlight that SWB are amenable to the concept of NBS in the context of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR). This work presents a comparison between the definition of SWB, NBS, and other terminologies that fall under the NBS concept. A matrix was created to compare NBS and NBS-related terminologies with the three main aspects of the SWB practice: “main aims”, “fields of application” and “other objectives”. Results from the comparison confirm that NBS is a unifying concept to prioritise nature to integrate climate change adaptation, mitigation, and disaster reduction efforts, embracing also many aspects of SWB criteria and applications. Thus, SWB can and should be recognized as having always been an NBS.

Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for Hydropower Development in Sondu Miriu Basin

Hydropower is sustainable and environmentally friendly source of energy worldwide. Driven by streamflow, it is vulnerable to climate change and land use change. The hydropower production from the two existing run-of-river hydropower projects on the Sondu Miriu River is vulnerable to rainfall variability and requires strategies for building resilience for the local communities. The objective of this study was to identify appropriate and sustainable strategies for integrating climate change adaptation into hydropower development within the Sondu Miriu River Basin. The methodology involved review of existing climate change adaptation strategies to identify appropriate strategies for integrating climate change adaptation in hydropower developments within the Sondu Miriu River Basin. The results indicate that no clear climate change adaptation strategies are being implemented within the basin. A framework is needed to implement appropriate climate change adaptation strategies within the basin. Climate Change act of 2016 created linkage with other existing policies for effective support of integration of climate change adaptation into hydropower development in Sondu Miriu River Basin. Strengthening community resilience to climate change impacts is one of the benefits to be derived from the hydropower projects by supporting appropriate adaptation strategies.

An empirical analysis of the co-benefits of integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Namibian energy sector

The Namibian energy sector and other energy sectors across the globe are currently in a rapid transformation era that must respond to climate change, which directly affects energy infrastructure’s resilience to the effects of resource scarcities or extreme weather conditions. The energy sector must implement adaptation to guarantee the resilience of vital infrastructure to fulfil its regulatory commitments, which cover the elements of resilience and safety. Through investigating climate change adaptation and mitigation implementation in Namibia, this study validates the existence of these co-benefits where integration is fully observed. It employed a meta-analysis and content analysis to link the observed variables to the most recognised co-benefits. The findings suggest that integration is an efficient way to generate co-benefits that contribute positively to the climate change project. Effective leadership support is one way of realising such integration, either via public-private partnership or energy policy. Namibian energy policy, it is suggested, through voluntary tools and incentives, should create key public-private partnerships and promote management. These recommendations have application beyond the Namibian energy sector, and the lessons learned here could be implemented in scenarios outside of it.

A climate-resilient marine conservation network for Canada

Climate change and biodiversity loss are twin crises that are driving global marine conservation efforts. However, if unaccounted for, climate change can undermine the efficacy of such efforts. Despite this, integration of climate change adaptation and resilience into spatial marine conservation and management has been limited in Canada and elsewhere. With climate change impacts becoming increasingly severe, now is the time to anticipate and reduce impacts wherever possible. We provide five recommendations for an inclusive, proactive, climate-ready approach for Canada’s growing marine conservation network: (1) integrating climate-resilience as a universal objective of the Canadian Marine Conservation Network, creating and implementing (2) national transdisciplinary working groups with representation from all knowledge holders and (3) necessary tools that integrate climate change into conservation design, (4) defining operational and climate-relevant monitoring and management objectives, and (5) strengthening communication and increasing knowledge exchange around the roles and benefits of protected areas within government and towards the public. Canada’s extensive marine and coastal areas reflect national and international responsibility to engage on this issue. Canada is well positioned to assume a leading role in climate change adaptation for marine conservation and help accelerate progress towards international commitments around mitigating ongoing biodiversity loss and climate change.

ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF INTEGRATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND DISASTER RISK REDUCTION POLICIES IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS IN CAMBODIA, INDONESIA, AND MALAYSIA

More than 50 per cent of global disaster mortality occurred in Southeast Asia between 2004 and 2014, and four of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states are ranked in the top 10 countries most affected by climate risk between 1996 and 2015. As climate concerns and their attendant disaster risks are influenced by, and will affect, human activities across broad sectors, a holistic approach to addressing the issues is needed. In this regard, integrating climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction frameworks within the context of national development becomes critical. By ensuring an integrated approach in development plans, sufficient resource allocations can be better ensured and climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts can be implemented more effectively. To enable further estimate of ASEAN’s readiness to face the effects of climate change, this study examines the level of integration of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in national development plans of select ASEAN member states. It specifically looks at the structure and design of climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction agenda within the development plans in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The assessment discovers that there is a varying degree of climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and development convergence in the countries under study, and concludes that Cambodia has them fully integrated while Indonesia and Malaysia have integrated them partially.