Summary lectures + articles Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Society (WSG51306)

Summary
Adaptation & Mitigation concept and
definitions
Mitigation: measures to reduce emissions
Adaptation: measures to adjust to impacts of climate change
- Autonomous adaption or reactive adaption: reactive to what is happening
- Anticipatory or proactive adaption: preparing for something
- Planned adaption

Introduction of adaptation in climate literature:
- 1992: UN Conference on Environment and Development
o Rio de Janeiro
o Results in UNFCCC (Framework Convention on Climate Change)
 Uses both mitigation and adaptation
 Later formalised by IPCC
- IPCC (2007):
o Defines mitigation as:
 Technological change and substitution that reduce resource inputs and
emission per unit of output
 With respect to climate change, mitigation means implementing policies to
reduce GHG emissions and enhance sinks




2016 European Environment Agency report on climate change, impacts and vulnerability:
- Objectives:
o Present climate change and impacts
o Identify sectors and regions most at risk
o Identify main sources of uncertainty
o Demonstrate how monitoring and scenario development can improve knowledge
base

, - Previous reports: 2004, 2008 and 2012
o More than 60 authors and contributors
o Content
o Data sources




IPCC framework and definitions:
- Exposure:
o Nature and degree to which a system is
exposed to significant climatic variations
 Exposed: what is at risk
 Population
 Resources
 Property
 Climate change that affected
system will face
 Sea level
 Temperature
 Precipitation
 Extreme events
- Sensitivity:
o Degree to which a system is affected,
either adversely or beneficially, by
climate related stimuli
o Direct:
 Reduction in crop yield caused
by increased drought conditions
o Indirect:
 Damage to properties from
coastal flooding caused by sea level rise
o Primary production systems (agriculture, forestry) more sensitive compared to
secondary and tertiary sectors (manufacturing (fabricage) and services)
o Exposure + sensitivity = impact

, - Adaptive capacity:
o Ability of a natural or human system to adjust to potential damage, to take an
advantage of opportunities or to cope with consequences
o Determined by access to:
 Wealth
 Technology
 Education
 Institutions
 Information
 Infrastructure
 Social capital
o Possession of adaptive capacity does not guarantee that adaptation takes place
 Adaptive capacity + motivation  (realisation)  adaptation
o Difficult to include in research, most stop at impact
o Impact + adaptive capacity = vulnerability
- Vulnerability:
o Degree to which a system is susceptible (vatbaar) to,
or able to cope with, adverse effects of climate
change
o Function of:
 Exposure
 Sensitivity
 Adaptive capacity
o More exposure and sensitivity will increase
vulnerability
o More adaptive capacity decreases vulnerability
 assessment of vulnerability should consider
all three factors

Vulnerability Assessment:
- Investigation of
o (Causes of) potential adverse (nadelige) consequences & opportunities
- Seeks answers to questions such as
o Who (or what) is vulnerable?
o To what are they vulnerable?
o Why are they vulnerable?
- Supports
o What responses can reduce vulnerability (or take advantage of opportunities)
o Identification of adaption needs
- Tools:
o Qualitative
 Participatory
 Semi-structured interviews
o (semi) quantitative
 Surveys
 Indicators
 Single measure of a characteristic
 Index: composite measure of several indicators or indices
 Purpose
o Capture spatial variation in vulnerability
o Used for
 Guiding decision-making
 Prioritising intervention
 Mapping

, - Limitations:
o Caution
 Complex nature of vulnerability
 Difficulty in capturing diversity and sensitivity
 High aggregation obscures causes of vulnerability
o Reflect explicit conceptual framework of vulnerability
 Can’t compare indicators that assess different temporal and spatial scales
 Units of measurement are often inconsistent

Adaptation:
- adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or
their effects, which moderates harm of exploits beneficial opportunities
o notice: actual (realized) or expected (future) changes in climate
- Distinguish between:
1. Autonomous adaptation or reactive adaptation tends to be what people and
systems do as impacts of climate change become clearly visible
2. Anticipatory or proactive adaptation are measures taken to reduce potential
risks of future climate change
- Distinguish between:
1. Autonomous adaptation what people and systems unconsciously do as impacts
of climate change become as impacts of climate change become apparent
2. Planned adaptation are measures planned (e.g. by governments) to reduce
current or potential future risks

Different research questions and different conceptualisations of adaptation:
1. Early adaptation assessments (UNFCCC)
2. Adaptation options for a particular system (ranking of options)
3. Focus on (causes of) vulnerability
o Many approaches to assess adaptation
o Important distinction:
 Impacts:
 Also known as first generation or top down
 Vulnerability:
 Second generation or bottom up
4. Adaptation process
o Adaptation cycle:
 Identifying adaptation needs
 Identifying adaptation measures
 Appraising (beoordelen) adaptation options
 Implementing adaptation actions
 Monitoring and evaluation
5. Contribute to practical implementation
6. Develop a specific adaptation type
o Technological or engineered (hard)
 To manage the impact both to buffer against climate’s effects and to
facilitate a change in society’s practice
o Soft/green/ecosystem-based
o Behavioural and/or institutional
 Modification of practices of individuals, groups or institutions
 Regulation, risk zoning, evacuation routes, financial mechanisms (insurance)
o Incremental (stapsgewijs) or radical