Online Training Resource:Analysing Climate Vulnerability

Climate Adaptation

Combining Vulnerabilities to Assess Local Vulnerability

This module explores how to combine the three sets of vulnerabilities, natural, socio-economic and institutional into a matrix of !total vulnerability" and apply this locally.

Climate AdaptationOnline Training Resource

Process Stage 1Analysing Climate Vulnerability: Combining

Deborah Davies, Carlo Aall, Eli Heiberg, 2012

What are Combined Effects

Projections of possible effects of climate change are often assessed separately from other possible changes in nature and society.

But arguably, economic and cultural change, such as rising levels of private wealth and a preference for building houses on hilltops and along the shore for aesthetic reasons, obviously contributes to increasing climate vulnerability.

Climate AdaptationOnline Training Resource

Process Stage 1Analysing Climate Vulnerability: Combination

Combining Vulnerabilities

Climate AdaptationOnline Training Resource

Process Stage 1Analysing Climate Vulnerability: Combination

The ‘one-dimensional’ Approach

Climate AdaptationOnline Training Resource

Process Stage 1Analysing Climate Vulnerability: Combination

The ‘two-dimensional’ Approach

• Local climate change scenarios

-These could lead to a more informed understanding of how probable changes in local climatic conditions may affect nature and society.

• Local societal change scenarios (a combinations of socio-economic and institutional vulnerability)

-These could lead to a more informed understanding of how probable changes at a local societal level may alter the exposure to negative or positive impacts of climatic conditions.

Climate AdaptationOnline Training Resource

Process Stage 1Analysing Climate Vulnerability: Combination

What is Needed?

Climate AdaptationOnline Training Resource

Process Stage 1Analysing Climate Vulnerability: Combination

Combining the Two Approaches

Climate AdaptationOnline Training Resource

Process Stage 1Analysing Climate Vulnerability: Combination

How to Assess the Total Climate Change Vulnerability

Final Key Points:

Climate changes do not occur in isolation - there are an array

of synergies that can alleviate and exacerbate the problem.

Along with global environmental change, processes of

globalisation, or global social change, are affecting regions too.

For example, for many sub-Arctic communities the local

economic system is narrowly based on a few industries.

These communities are not only vulnerable to changes in the

local environment regime shifts, but also to global market

fluctuations and political interventions.

Climate AdaptationOnline Training Resource

Process Stage 1Analysing Climate Vulnerability: Combination

Combining Vulnerabilities

Final Key Points:

• Excluding changes in nature and society is misleading because society is far from static – and it is thus a different society from that of today which, in a given year in the future, will be exposed to the climate of that time period.

• Thus climate change cannot/ should not be separated from other drivers for change.

• In many cases socio-economic vulnerability may compound issues of natural vulnerability e.g. population changes, demographic changes, rich/ poor divides, globalisation, and consumerism.

• Some drivers could be viewed as positive, e.g. technology, localism, etc..

Climate AdaptationOnline Training Resource

Process Stage 1Analysing Climate Vulnerability: Combination

Combining Vulnerabilities