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The basic objective of this study was to examine the relationship of Pakistani people's perceptions of climate change reality and climate change causes, the consequences, and temporal distance and spatial distance of the consequences of climate change with the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), the negative affect associated with climate change, and the risk perception of climate change. Despite the expanding scientific accord, the public agreement towards the risks of climate change is uncertain. People's perceptions and attitudes toward climate change led to the understanding of how people respond to the risks caused by climate change, yet this mass subjective assessment has not been sufficiently done in terms of highlighting risks and consequences. To conduct this study, an online survey was employed including the respondents from several areas of Pakistan who were educated enough to understand the terminologies related to climate change. The study sample consisted of 200 people with the age range 16 to 36 & above. The findings suggest that people's perceptions of climate change reality and climate change causes, the consequences, and temporal distance and spatial distance consequences of climate change are interestingly related and directly proportional to how people advocate the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), experience the negative affect associated with climate change, and anticipate the climate change risks. It is crucial to address the absence of subjective assessment to inform evidence-based policies and communication strategies that connect with the Pakistani public. This will help foster meaningful engagement and encourage collective action to mitigate the effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective – Increasing intensity and severity of extreme weather events are threatening economic resilience and longer-term prosperity. Therefore, a framework for effective climate change risk management is required to manage the climatic challenges and preserve the long-term presence of financial institutions. The purpose of this paper is to design a conceptual framework for determining the level of climate change risk management (CCRM) practice, and understanding of CCRM. It also aims to identify CCRM valuation and analysis, and CCRM monitoring and regulating in financial institutions, particularly in Saudi Arabia’s finance organizations. It further aims to investigate the relationship between CCRM practice and financial performance. Design/methodology – The paper reviews and synthesises the relevant literature on climate change risks and management, and financial institutions. A conceptual framework for managing climate change risks is then developed and proposed in the paper. Results – Using this conceptual paper as a starting point for empirical research, we will examine CCRM practices among financial institutions. It is hoped to fill a knowledge and method gap. Research limitations/implications – The knowledge obtained from this study hopes to support the supervision of CCRM among the financial institutions and internal control system to meet the requirements of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to manage climate change risk in Saudi Arabia. Novelty/originality – In this study, the originality lies in the fact that previous studies have only examined financial practices among financial institutions. Studies on climate change risk management practice have not yet been carried out.

Research Summary: We estimate firm-level physical risk from climate change based on managerial evaluation and firms' exposure to climate hazard events and find that climate risk results in unfavorable corporate financing terms related to bank loans (higher interest paid, higher likelihood of being required to collateralize the loan, and greater number of covenant constraints). Firms that take measures aimed at managing climate risk, including corporate climate strategy, board-level governance, specific or integrated process to cope with climate change, climate opportunities, and climate policy involvement, are able to mitigate the negative impact of climate risk on loan contracting. We further find that higher climate risk level is associated with inferior financial performance and higher default probability, which potentially lead to more stringent loan terms. Managerial Summary: We examine how a firm's exposure to climate risk affects its financing terms from bank loans. Climate risk exposure is assessed by firm managers and also reflects the degree to which the firm is subject to climate-induced natural disasters. The results show that if exposed to higher climate risk, which hurts financial performance and heightens default likelihood, firms face higher interest rates and more stringent collateral and covenant constraints when borrowing from banks. Nevertheless, firm managers could significantly mitigate this adverse climate impact on loan financing by integrating climate change into business strategy, having the board take direct responsibility for climate change issues, establishing a climate changefocused risk management process, seeking business opportunities from climate change, and engaging in activities that influence climate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the way in which the responsibility for managing climate change risks is addressed by the Dutch courts in the Urgenda and Shell cases. A foundation called Urgenda initiated proceedings against the State of the Netherlands; followed by Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) initiating proceedings against Shell, a multinational oil corporation with, at the time, its headquarters still in the Netherlands. This paper looks at both these examples of climate litigation, with a focus on what the courts had to say about responsibilities for managing climate change risks.

Several industry participants have actively started managing the environmental externalities of their economic activities. As environmental policies become clear(er), the asset prices would likely evolve to drive transition to a low-carbon economy. With this article the authors intend to highlight to investors and portfolio managers the significance and financial materiality of climate change risk to the value of their developed-market corporate-bond portfolios. This article shows that, even though the broader credit market and bond spreads are yet to systematically incorporate the impact of climate policies or the potential for physical climate risk, these risks can have a material impact on the asset value of firms, and that the downside risk is large enough to adversely affect bondholders and other creditors of firms. The authors hope this article will encourage bond investors to take a more active role, along with equity holders and policymakers, in spurring firms onward in the transition to a low-carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the way in which the responsibility for managing climate change risks is addressed by the Dutch courts in the Urgenda and Shell cases. A foundation called Urgenda initiated proceedings against the State of the Netherlands; followed by Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) initiating proceedings against Shell, a multinational oil corporation with, at the time, its headquarters still in the Netherlands. This paper looks at both these examples of climate litigation, with a focus on what the courts had to say about responsibilities for managing climate change risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some coastal environments facing climate change risks are starting to be managed with nature-based solutions (NBS). Strategies based on the rehabilitation of green infrastructures in coastal municipalities, such as renaturalization of seafronts, are considered adaptive to the effects of climate change but may cause misconceptions that could lead to social conflicts between the tourist sector and the society. A survey was carried out to study user perceptions on the effects of climate change, preferences for adaptation strategies, and the assessment of projects of dune reconstruction. We find that while beach users recognize the benefits of NBS for environmental conservation and storm protection, they show little concern about possible effects of climate change on recreational activity and have limited understanding about the protective capacity of NBS. Thus, a greater effort must be made to better explain the effects of climate change and the potential benefits of NBS in coastal risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is strongly interlinked with the natural and social environment, in particular in destinations around the Pacific. These environments are vulnerable to climate change which impacts on the social–ecological system of destinations. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) uses ecosystems to manage the risks of climate change. However, a gap remains in understanding how the tourism sector can use EbA to create destination-wide benefits. The destination EbA framework presented here aims to address this gap by focusing on well-being and climate risk reduction. The framework is applied to a Pacific case study site, Tanna Island in Vanuatu, by drawing on primary qualitative data. Results highlight that EbA offers an approach for the tourism sector to create holistic benefits to destinations. Several constraints to successful implementation, and how these may be overcome, are identified. The article contributes by providing a framework for other destinations which aim to create benefits through tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, boardroom decision-making focused almost exclusively on economic expectations of major shareholders. During the last thirty years, this approach to corporate governance progressively changed and now responsible companies strive to meet all relevant stakeholders’ expectations, and this requires acknowledging the close links among economic, social and environmental performance for the creation of shared value and lasting prosperity. More and more, in the ‘oversize economy’, robust corporate governance is based on the awareness that long-term value creation for shareholders cannot exist without a multi-stakeholder management approach. On the contrary, multistakeholder satisfaction generates positive effects on the relationships with employees, customers, suppliers and financiers.

In this study we use three different methodologies to document and compare temperature and precipitation projections for the city of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) over the 21st century. It aims to explore in what way the differences and similarities of those methodologies and their outcomes support the incorporation of climate risks in urban planning and improve effective urban climate change governance. We compared the projections for RJ from the Eta Regional Climate Model from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research nested in two Hadley Center Global Climate Models (GCMs) (Eta-HadCM3 method and Eta-HadGEM2-ES method) and 33 GCMs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 multi-model dataset (Urban Climate Change Research Network - UCCRN method). The three methods showed increasing temperatures for RJ at the end of the century. Precipitation projections span a 13% decrease to a 12% increase when using the UCCRN method or are reduced between 0.4 and 0.5%, when using the Eta-HadGEM2-ES method. However, the middle range of the projections from UCCRN and Eta-HadGEM2-ES is similar. The three methods project an increase of warm days and nights and a decrease of cold days and nights. Nevertheless, although the directions of change are the same applying the three methods, the magnitude differs when considering warm and cold nights. Hence, city stakeholders are better informed when we apply different projection methods as it gives them the opportunity to consider the level of risk they are willing to bear in the future. We observed that defining climate change projections on the city scale based on clear communication and an interactive process between scientists and stakeholders can be used to inform citywide adaptation strategies and sector-specific uses, as well as promote urban climate risk governance.

Most experts agree that the greatest risk associated with climate change is pretending that the problem does not exist, or that it does not require immediate attention and action. That said, the potential pathways for mitigating the effects of greenhouse gas emissions are not created equal in terms of the risks and benefits they entail. Public discourse tends to focus on the most optimistic scenarios for implementing new technologies and to ignore not only the hazards but also the non-climate-related benefits associated with some approaches. Climate mitigation strategies currently undergo economic and engineering analyses, but they are not consistently subjected to rigorous risk assessment and risk management. The author offers the beginnings of a more cohesive decision-support analysis framework. Assessments of various mitigation strategies by the world’s largest industry—insurance—are critically important in this process because insurers can provide a dispassionate view and internalize the costs of risk through pricing. Bank financing cannot be mobilized without insurance, and the public sector may be forced to assume many of the risks associated with emerging technologies if insurers opt out. A century of dangerously blending technological enthusiasm with lack of care in assessing the comparative risks of energy and land-use choices ushered in today’s climate crisis. Continued inattention threatens to saddle society with new risks from poorly prioritized efforts to solve the climate problem. Procrastination is painting humankind into a corner in which progressively riskier and unproven technologies will be required to mitigate climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the last several years there has been increasing recognition and acceptance of the threat that climate change poses to global financial stability and the concurrent need for corporations to identify and account for both climate risks and their impacts on the environment. This has resulted in the emergence of climate risk disclosure (CRD) as a voluntary standard as well as movement on the domestic level to introduce mandatory CRD, demonstrated by the introduction of CRD framework legislation in France. This article conducts a comparative analysis of France and the UK—countries that are adopting divergent methods of legal development towards CRD—to analyse the potential of CRD as a policy tool to aid towards climate change mitigation and the transition to a low-carbon economy, and evaluate how effectively this is being achieved in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigate whether firms recognised as superior sustainability performers respond differently to climate change regulatory, physical and other risks/opportunities and examine whether such differences predict sustainability performance in subsequent years. Further, we seek to gain insights from climate change programs and strategies of both superior and inferior sustainability performers. Adopting mixed methods, we use a merged sample from the Top500 world's largest firms and the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. Our quantitative analyses show that greater awareness of physical and other climate change opportunities is what sets superior performers apart, and that superior future sustainability performance is related to a firm's stated awareness of these two types of opportunities. Qualitative content analysis of narrative disclosures confirm that superior performers provide more detailed description of climate change strategies that go beyond managing climate change risks. Our study contributes to the limited amount of research highlighting the value of proactively seeking opportunities rather than merely focussing on risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the impacts of climate change become increasingly severe and perceptible, corporations that continue to disregard the risks created by the Earth’s shifting climate stand to suffer significant financial harm. Particular sectors, such as the oil and gas industry, are especially susceptible to the effects of climate change and are already experiencing losses in value due to extreme weather events, disrupted operations, and environmental regulations. Despite a growing number of investors demanding more information from companies about their vulnerabilities to climate change, there is virtually no discussion of climate change risks in publicly traded companies’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and on other public platforms. This indifference to climate change matters is potentially harmful to investors, who may be trading inaccurately priced securities that fail to account for the risks posed by climate change. A number of recent investigations and litigation alleging securities fraud based on publicly traded companies’ failure to disclose climate change risks represent an attempt to ensure that investors have access to critical information about the true value of their holdings. This Note cautions that such allegations of securities fraud may become more common in the near future if companies continue to ignore, misrepresent, or fail to disclose the effects of climate change on their operations and financial value. In light of the growing threat of such securities fraud litigation, this Note examines different theories that plaintiffs in these suits can advance to argue that climate change information falls within the ambit of existing mandatory disclosure laws. By encouraging companies to assess and disclose climate change risks, these lawsuits are not only critical to maintaining transparency and efficiency in financial markets but they may also spur innovation and new modes of thinking that can help mitigate the harmful impacts of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has been linked with the establishment and geographical expansion of zoonotic diseases, an example of which is the well-documented increase in human cases of Lyme disease in Quebec, Canada. As temperatures continue to increase in Quebec, it is anticipated that several zoonotic diseases will be affected. In response to the growing zoonotic issues facing public health authorities, Quebec's Multi-Party Observatory on Zoonoses and Adaptation to Climate Change (Observatoire multipartite québécois sur les zoonoses et l'adaptation aux changements climatiques) (the Observatory) was founded in 2015 as part of the Quebec government's Climate Change Action Plan (Plan d'action 2013-2020 sur les changements climatiques). The Observatory was designed to bring together agencies involved in formulating public policy and experts from the disciplines of human health, animal health and environmental sciences, in a manner similar to the innovative "One World, One Health" approach. The Observatory provides a platform for knowledge sharing and consensus building among representatives of public policy decision makers and scientists. Its main objectives are to anticipate and prioritize potential issues associated with zoonotic diseases in Quebec, in order to support applicable risk management and climate change adaptation. This article describes what the Observatory is, what it does and outlines its plans for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting to changing coastlines is an unprecedented planning challenge as coastal hazards, including those associated with climate change, influence all areas of resource management. Tools have been developed to aid in understanding coastal hazards and to facilitate the planning and implementation of adaptation strategies. Through interviews with members of eight geographically distributed state Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Programs and several federal and nonprofit partners, we explored the utility of current tools for on-the-ground adaptation planning and implementation needs. State CZM Programs operate as trusted information brokers at the nexus between national resources and local needs. Here we provide seven recommendations for how to overcome the challenges identified with tool discovery, lack of trust, and the coarse spatial resolution of national tools. Our findings suggest local community needs are better addressed when end-users play a role in the tool development process. We also recommend leveraging CZM Program connections because they have the knowledge and expertise to identify solutions and disseminate information. While the recommendations presented here were taken from the perspective of state CZM Programs regarding coastal tools, the lessons learned may provide valuable insight into the tool development process for other resource management fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Rwanda's Crop Intensification Program has inhibited smallholder mechanisms of climate risk management. • To mitigate climatic risks, smallholders must employ resources to adapt land use strategies. • Wealthier households have enrolled in new institutions that are increasingly essential to building adaptive capacity. • Lacking resources and robust livelihood portfolios, poorer households struggle to cope with and adapt to climatic change. Abstract Development programs and policies can influence smallholder producers' abilities to adapt to climate change. However, gaps remain in understanding how households' adaptive capacities can become uneven. This paper investigates how development transitions—such as the recent adoption of 'green revolution' agricultural policies throughout sub-Saharan Africa—intersect with cross-scale social-environmental processes to unevenly shape smallholders' adaptive capacities and adaptation pathways. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative material from a multi-season study in Rwanda, we investigate smallholder adaptation processes amid a suite of rural development interventions. Our study finds that adaptive capacities arise differentially across livelihood groups in the context of evolving environmental, social, and political economic processes. We show how social institutions play key roles in shaping differential adaptation pathways by enabling and/or constraining opportunities for smallholders to adapt livelihood and land use strategies. Specifically, Rwanda's Crop Intensification Program enables some wealthier households to adapt livelihoods by generating income through commercial agriculture. At the same time, deactivation of local risk management institutions has diminished climate risk management options for most households. To build and employ alternate livelihood practices such as commercial agriculture and planting woodlots for charcoal production, smallholders must negotiate new institutions, a prerequisite for which is access to capitals (land, labor, and nonfarm income). Those without entitlements to these are pulled deeper into poverty with each successive climatic shock. This illustrates that adaptive capacity is not a static, quantifiable entity that exists in households. We argue that reconceptualizing adaptive capacity as a dynamic, social-environmental process that emerges in places can help clarify complex linkages among development policies, livelihoods, and adaptation pathways. To ensure more equitable and climate-resilient agricultural development, we stress the need to reformulate policies with careful attention to how power structures and entrenched social inequalities can lead to smallholders' uneven capacities to adapt to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been proposed that voluntary urban climate programmes overcome shortfalls in mandatory, top-down, state-led government interventions to address climate change risks. Such programmes seek commitments from households and firms to improve their environmental sustainability, but do not have the force of law. City governments are actively developing and implementing such programmes, seeking improved and accelerated urban climate action. There is little evidence, however, of whether their involvement positively affects voluntary programme performance. This article presents qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of 26 voluntary programmes from Australia, the Netherlands and the US, seeking to understand whether, and if so how, city governments affect the performance of voluntary urban climate programmes. The results will help to inform city governments about the roles they may play in urban climate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. electric power system is increasingly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of extreme climate events. Supply inadequacy risk can result from climate‐induced shifts in electricity demand and/or damaged physical assets due to hydro‐meteorological hazards and climate change. In this article, we focus on the risks associated with the unanticipated climate‐induced demand shifts and propose a data‐driven approach to identify risk factors that render the electricity sector vulnerable in the face of future climate variability and change. More specifically, we have leveraged advanced supervised learning theory to identify the key predictors of climate‐sensitive demand in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Our analysis indicates that variations in mean dew point temperature is the common major risk factor across all the three sectors. We have also conducted a statistical sensitivity analysis to assess the variability in the projected demand as a function of the key climate risk factor. We then propose the use of scenario‐based heat maps as a tool to communicate the inadequacy risks to stakeholders and decisionmakers. While we use the state of Ohio as a case study, our proposed approach is equally applicable to all other states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is important to assist the Philippines develop more effective community engagement adaptation approaches and policies to better respond locally to climate change and disaster risk management. To explore this, a literature review was undertaken followed by interviews and focus group discussions with local experts and community representatives. Findings from the literature review were that strong (active and inclusive) community engagement approaches to climate change and disaster risk management were more effective than weak (passive and consultative) approaches. These results were compared to fieldwork interviews and focus group discussions in two typhoonprone Philippine provinces. Findings revealed that while strong and weak community engagement approaches exist in the Philippines, respondents at provincial and local levels supported the development of strong community engagement that involved capacity building and open information and dialogue. Meaningful engagement with stakeholders and across sectors that embraced Filipino community engagement customs and characteristics were emphasised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detrimental effects of climate change are becoming pressingly apparent over the decades with policy-makers clumsily grappling with various policies to mitigate on its impacts on their respective economies. However, inefficiencies permeate in the implementation of these policies as they are being implemented only at the end of the process of economic activities. To resolve such a problem, this paper develops an innovative and novel approach to internalize CO 2 emissions by proposing a ramified Taylor rule which captures a climate change premium, the level of which is directly dependent on the extent of deviation of actual CO 2 emissions from its targeted level. The key benefits of the proposed tool are that not only effectiveness level is being bolstered by applying the tool right at the start of the process of economic activities but also that funds collected out of such a climate change premium could empower governments worldwide to vigorously green their economies. The model is tested for a given economy using the DSGE approach with findings attesting to the effectiveness of the proposed tool in curtailing the level CO 2 emissions, independent of the type of monetary shock under scrutiny. Most importantly, depending on the extent of aggressiveness in mitigating the pollutants level, the parameter weight coefficient can be fine-tuned accordingly. • This paper develops an innovative model to internalize CO 2 emissions by linking CO 2 emissions to the macroeconomic state of the economy through the Taylor rule. • The model is tested using DSGE technique on a given economy. • Many benefits emanating from the newly developed model such as policy effectiveness. • A climate change premium is incorporated in the model which can provide funding to green economic activities. • The parameter weight coefficient can be fine-tuned accordingly depending on the degree of aggressiveness of the economy in mitigating CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One focus of agricultural development is climate smart agricultural technologies and practices (CSA). Development practitioners invest in scaling these to have wider impact. Ineffective targeting stymies CSA’s contribution to poverty reduction by excluding many of the poor and/or including those for whom agriculture is not a pathway out of poverty. This viewpoint proposes the need to recognise differentiated livelihood pathways within smallholder agriculture, linked to farmers’ differential capacity to engage in climate risk management. A farmer and livelihoods typology provides a framework to improved targeting of CSA and to identifying where alternative interventions, such as social protection, are more appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restoring the estimated 1 billion hectares of degraded forests must consider future climate accompanied by novel ecosystems. Transformational restoration can play a key role in adaptation to climate change but it is conceptually the most divergent from contemporary approaches favoring native species and natural disturbance regimes. Here, we review concepts of novelty in ecosystems with examples of emergent/neo-native and designed novel ecosystems, with application to transformational restoration. Danish forests have a high degree of novelty and provide a realistic context for discussing assisted migration, one method of transformational adaptation. Deforestation and impacts of past land use created a highly degraded landscape dominated by heathland in western Denmark. Restoration with non-native species began 150 years ago because the native broadleaves could not establish on the heathlands. Danish forestry continues to rely extensively on non-native species. Preparing for transformational adaptation requires risky research today to prepare for events in the future and refugia from the last glaciation may provide genetic material better adapted to future climate. A new project will test whether species and provenances from the Caspian forests in Iran possess greater genetic diversity and superior resistance (physiological adaptability) and resilience (evolutionary adaptability) and possibly a gene pool for future adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change brings uncertain risks of climate-related natural hazards. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA in Climate change: long-term trends and their implications for emergency management, 2011. https://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/programs/oppa/climate_change_paper.pdf) has issued a policy directive to integrate climate change adaptation actions into hazard mitigation programs, policies, and plans. However, to date there has been no comprehensive empirical study to examine the extent to which climate change issues are integrated into state hazard mitigation plans (SHMPs). This study develops 18 indicators to examine the extent of climate change considerations in the 50 SHMPs. The results demonstrate that these SHMPs treat climate change issues in an uneven fashion, with large variations present among the 50 states. The overall plan quality for climate change considerations was sustained at an intermediate level with regard to climate change-related awareness, analysis, and actions. The findings confirm that climate change concepts and historic extreme events have been well recognized by the majority of SHMPs. Even though they are not specific to climate change, mitigation and adaptation strategies that can help reduce climate change risks have been adopted in these plans. However, the plans still lack a detailed assessment of climate change and more incentives for collaboration strategies beyond working with emergency management agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Starting in 1999, the Grain‐for‐Green Programme has been implemented in the Loess Plateau to alleviate the severe soil erosion by converting steeply sloping croplands to forestlands or grasslands. To quantify the effects of these conservation efforts, this study identified the land‐use changes between 2000 and 2015 and quantified their impacts on runoff and erosion using the Soil and Water Assessment Tools (SWAT) and a typical hilly basin, the Yanhe River basin as a case‐study. To heighten the applicability of SWAT to the region, major model parameters were localized and calibrated for the period of 1975–1980 and were then validated for 1981–1987. The R2 and NS validation indices were 0.70 and 0.65 for the monthly runoff and 0.67 and 0.61 for the sediment load, indicating that the model performance was acceptable. Between 2000 and 2015, the slope croplands were reduced by 39.9%, the forestlands increased by 90.2%, and the grasslands increased by 12.9%. These land‐use changes were simulated using SWAT to reduce the basin runoff by 13.8% and the sediment load by 50.7%. Spatial analyses using ArcGIS indicated that the simulated reduction in water yield due to cropland conversion to forestland was more obvious than that due to the conversion to grassland, but the reductions in the sediment yields were similar. The results suggest that the Grain‐for‐Green practice during this period was effective for preventing soil and water losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting household resilience to climate extremes has emerged as a key development priority. Yet tracking and evaluating resilience at this level remains a critical challenge. Most quantitative approaches rely on objective indicators and assessment frameworks, but these are not fully satisfactory. Much of the difficulty arises from a combination of conceptual ambiguities, challenges in selecting appropriate indicators, and in measuring the many intangible aspects that contribute to household resilience. More recently, subjective measures of resilience have been advocated in helping to overcome some of the limitations of traditional objective characterizations. However, few large-scale studies of quantitative subjective approaches to resilience measurement have been conducted. In this study, we address this gap by exploring perceived levels of household resilience to climate extremes in Tanzania and the utility of standardized subjective methods for its assessment. A nationally representative cross-sectional survey involving 1294 individuals was carried out by mobile phone in June 2015 among randomly selected adult respondents aged 18 and above. Factors that are most associated with resilience-related capacities are having had advance knowledge of a previous flood, and to a lesser extent, believing flooding to be a serious community problem. Somewhat surprisingly, though a small number of weak relationships are apparent, most socio-demographic variables do not exhibit statistically significant differences with regards to perceived resilience-related capacities. These findings may challenge traditional assumptions about what factors characterize household resilience, offering a motivation for studying both subjective and objective perspectives, and understanding better their relationship to one another. If further validated, subjective measures may offer potential as both a complement and alternative to traditional objective methods of resilience measurement, each with their own merits and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the existing literature, the role of experience of risk on attitudinal and behavioural risk response has been relatively neglected. Recent research that draws on the psychological distance of climate change as a concept notes the importance of local, significant experience as a driver for encouraging appropriate response. The experience of flooding was used as the stimulus in this paper, and emphasis placed on whether direct and/or indirect experience of flood risk is associated with different responses to climate change risk. In order to explore the relationship between climate change risk experience and response in the form of on-farm mitigation and adaptation, this paper draws on a case study of farmers in England, many of whom have experienced flooding. Results from a quantitative survey undertaken with 200 farmers in Gloucestershire, England are discussed. Statistical analysis found experience of flooding to be significantly associated with a heightened concern for climate change. Although also finding an association between experience and behavioural response, the sample were most likely to be taking adaptive behaviour as part of normal practice, with factors such as lack of overall concern for climate change risk and absence of information and advice likely to be the main barriers to action. Risk communication needs to further emphasise the connection between climate change and extreme weather events to allow for farmers to perceive climate change as a relevant and locally salient phenomenon, and subsequent tailored information and advice should be offered to clearly illustrate the best means of on-farm response. Where possible, emphasis must be placed on actions that also enable adaptation to other, more immediate risks which farmers in this study more readily exhibited concern for, such as market volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through integrative assessment, experts evaluate the state of knowledge on complex problems relevant to societies. In this review, we take stock of recent advances and challenges, rooting our analysis in climate change assessment. In particular, we consider four priorities in assessment: ( a) integrating diverse evidence including quantitative and qualitative results and understanding, ( b) applying rigorous expert judgment to evidence and its uncertainties, ( c) exploring widely ranging futures and their connections to ongoing choices and actions, and ( d) incorporating interactions among experts and decision makers in assessment processes. Across these assessment priorities, we survey past experiences, current practices, and possibilities for future experimentation, innovation, and learning. In our current era of climate and broader global change, integrative assessment can bolster decisions about contested and uncertain futures. We consider both opportunities and pitfalls in synthesizing and encompassing evidence and perspectives. Our aim is to advance transparent assessment for a sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people directly depend on smallholder farming systems. These people now face a changing climate and associated societal responses. We use mapping and a literature review to juxtapose the climate fate of smallholder systems with that of other agricultural systems and population groups. Limited direct evidence contrasts climate impact risk in smallholder agricultural systems versus other farming systems, but proxy evidence suggests high smallholder vulnerability. Smallholders distinctively adapt to climate shocks and stressors. Their future adaptive capacity is uncertain and conditional upon the severity of climate change and socioeconomic changes from regional development. Smallholders present a greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation paradox. They emit a small amount of CO2 per capita and are poor, making GHG regulation unwarranted. But they produce GHG-intensive food and emit disproportionate quantities of black carbon through traditional biomass energy. Effectively accounting for smallholders in mitigation and adaption policies is critical and will require innovative solutions to the transaction costs that enrolling smallholders often imposes. Together, our findings show smallholder farming systems to be a critical fulcrum between climate change and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insurance industry is important for facilitating climate change adaptation. Insurance companies’ involvement is, however, influenced by national adaptation policy. The literature suggests that especially policy factors – government interventions, political priorities and public–private cooperation – and market factors – cost offset, cost mitigation, planning flexibility and business opportunities – shape private actor approaches. To increase the understanding of insurance company involvement in adaptation, this study examines how insurance companies’ approaches are influenced by policy and market factors in three countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The study found that the policy factors tested significantly shaped the approaches of the companies assessed, while market factors currently appear less influential. This is likely due to the absence of climate risk and adaptation in political debates and among insurance policyholders. The study discusses the potential role of the insurance industry in adaptation governance and suggests how barriers facing insurance companies could be overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Water scarcity, especially in the hydrologically critical part of the year, is a problem often present in many cities and regions, particularly in arid and sub-arid areas. Climate change and human water demand compound the problem. This paper discusses a climate change adaptation measure-the possibility of karst spring overexploitation, where there is a siphon-shaped cavity inside the mountain. The pilot area is near the city of Niš, where a decreasing precipitation trend has already been observed and is expected to continue in the future. The paper also presents some basic information related to the pilot area and undertaken investigations. The project, successfully implemented in 2004, has provided the city of Niš with an additional amount of 200 l/s of spring water during the most critical part of the year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article builds on the premise that human consumption of goods, food and transport are the ultimate drivers of climate change. However, the nature of the climate change problem (well described as a tragedy of the commons) makes it difficult for individuals to recognise their personal duty to implement behavioural changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, this article aims to analyse the climate change issue from a human-scale perspective, in which each of us has a clearly defined personal quota of CO2 emissions that limits our activity and there is a finite time during which CO2 emissions must be eliminated to achieve the “well below 2°C” warming limit set by the Paris Agreement of 2015 (COP21). Thus, this work’s primary contribution is to connect an equal per capita fairness approach to a global carbon budget, linking personal levels with planetary levels. Here, we show that a personal quota of 5.0 tons of CO2 yr-1 p-1 is a representative value for both past and future emissions; for this level of a constant per-capita emissions and without considering any mitigation, the global accumulated emissions compatible with the “well below 2°C” and 2°C targets will be exhausted by 2030 and 2050, respectively. These are references years that provide an order of magnitude of the time that is left to reverse the global warming trend. More realistic scenarios that consider a smooth transition toward a zero-emission world show that the global accumulated emissions compatible with the “well below 2°C” and 2°C targets will be exhausted by 2040 and 2080, respectively. Implications of this paper include a return to personal responsibility following equity principles among individuals, and a definition of boundaries to the personal emissions of CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global wave hindcasts provide wave climate information for long time periods which helps to improve our understanding of climate variability, long term trends and extremes. This information is extremely useful for coastal studies and can be used both directly or as boundary conditions for regional and local downscalings. This work presents the GOW2 database, a long-term wave hindcast covering the world coastline with improved resolution in coastal areas and along ocean islands. For developing the GOW2 hindcast, WAVEWATCH III wave model is used in a multigrid two-way nesting configuration from 1979 onwards. The multigrid includes a global grid of half degree spatial resolution, specific grids configured for the Arctic and the Antarctic polar areas, and a grid of higher resolution (about 25 km) for all the coastal locations at a depth shallower than 200 m. Available outputs include hourly sea state parameters (e.g. significant wave height, peak period, mean wave direction) and series of 3-h spectra at more than 40000 locations in coastal areas. Comparisons with instrumental data show a clear improvement with respect to existing global hindcasts, especially in semi-enclosed basins and areas with a complex bathymetry. The effect of tropical cyclones is also well-captured thanks to the high resolution of the forcings and the wave model setup. The new database shows a high potential for a variety of applications in coastal engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]