A Climate Information Platform for Copernicus. (CLIPC): managing the data flood

<p>CLIPC has developed a platform to provide access to climate information of direct relevance to a wide variety of users, from scientists to policy makers and private sector decision makers.</p

Investment in flood protection measures under climate change uncertainty

Recent severe river flooding in Europe has triggered debates among scientists and policy-makers on future projections of flood frequency and the need for adaptive investments, such as flood protection measures. Because there exists uncertainty about the impact of climate change on flood risk, such investments require a careful analysis of expected benefits and costs. The objective of this paper is to show how climate change uncertainty affects the decision to invest in flood protection measures. We develop a model that incorporates flexible timing of investment decisions and scientific uncertainty on the extent of climate change impact. This model allows decision-makers to cope with the uncertain impact of climate change on the frequency and damage of river flood events and minimizes the risk of under-or over-investment. One of the innovative elements of our paper is that we explicitly distinguish between structural and non-structural flood protection measures. Our results show that the effects of uncertainty on the optimal initial investment depends on the cost structure of these measures which has several important implications for flood management policy

Whose knowledge counts in nature-based solutions? Understanding epistemic justice for nature-based solutions through a multi-city comparison across Europe and Asia

There is increasing advocacy from academics, international agenda-setting organisations, and cities themselves for expert- and evidence driven approaches to multiple aspects of urban climate change and sustainability, including nature-based solutions. However, given growing interest in nature-based solutions research and practice towards questions of justice, it is important that the knowledge systems used to inform decisions about urban nature-based solutions are critically scrutinised. We use the lens of epistemic justice – justice in knowledge, with regard to how society defines a problem and the range of possible solutions – to assess nature-based solutions actions for climate adaptation and resilience across five cities: Amsterdam, Glasgow, Hanoi, Oslo, and Taipei. Our study finds common issues: the risk of quantifiable evidence about the distribution of NbS and its benefits closing down the aims of NbS strategies to meeting narrowly-defined indicators; the potential for self-defined communities of experts becoming de facto authorities on NbS; and the need for those tasked with implementing NbS ‘on the ground’ to have access to the fora and knowledge systems in which NbS strategies are developed. A key message is that more participation alone is insufficient to address epistemic justice concerns, unless it comes at a stage where a broad range of stakeholders (and their knowledges) can influence adaptation strategies and the role of NbS within them. Given the inter- and transdisciplinary nature of NbS scholarship, we argue attention must be focused on the potential for exclusion of key knowledge systems from policy and governance processes

Whose knowledge counts in nature-based solutions? Understanding epistemic justice for nature-based solutions through a multi-city comparison across Europe and Asia

There is increasing advocacy from academics, international agenda-setting organisations, and cities themselves for expert- and evidence driven approaches to multiple aspects of urban climate change and sustainability, including nature-based solutions. However, given growing interest in nature-based solutions research and practice towards questions of justice, it is important that the knowledge systems used to inform decisions about urban nature-based solutions are critically scrutinised. We use the lens of epistemic justice – justice in knowledge, with regard to how society defines a problem and the range of possible solutions – to assess nature-based solutions actions for climate adaptation and resilience across five cities: Amsterdam, Glasgow, Hanoi, Oslo, and Taipei. Our study finds common issues: the risk of quantifiable evidence about the distribution of NbS and its benefits closing down the aims of NbS strategies to meeting narrowly-defined indicators; the potential for self-defined communities of experts becoming de facto authorities on NbS; and the need for those tasked with implementing NbS ‘on the ground’ to have access to the fora and knowledge systems in which NbS strategies are developed. A key message is that more participation alone is insufficient to address epistemic justice concerns, unless it comes at a stage where a broad range of stakeholders (and their knowledges) can influence adaptation strategies and the role of NbS within them. Given the inter- and transdisciplinary nature of NbS scholarship, we argue attention must be focused on the potential for exclusion of key knowledge systems from policy and governance processes

Whose knowledge counts in nature-based solutions? Understanding epistemic justice for nature-based solutions through a multi-city comparison across Europe and Asia

There is increasing advocacy from academics, international agenda-setting organisations, and cities themselves for expert- and evidence driven approaches to multiple aspects of urban climate change and sustainability, including nature-based solutions. However, given growing interest in nature-based solutions research and practice towards questions of justice, it is important that the knowledge systems used to inform decisions about urban nature-based solutions are critically scrutinised. We use the lens of epistemic justice – justice in knowledge, with regard to how society defines a problem and the range of possible solutions – to assess nature-based solutions actions for climate adaptation and resilience across five cities: Amsterdam, Glasgow, Hanoi, Oslo, and Taipei. Our study finds common issues: the risk of quantifiable evidence about the distribution of NbS and its benefits closing down the aims of NbS strategies to meeting narrowly-defined indicators; the potential for self-defined communities of experts becoming de facto authorities on NbS; and the need for those tasked with implementing NbS ‘on the ground’ to have access to the fora and knowledge systems in which NbS strategies are developed. A key message is that more participation alone is insufficient to address epistemic justice concerns, unless it comes at a stage where a broad range of stakeholders (and their knowledges) can influence adaptation strategies and the role of NbS within them. Given the inter- and transdisciplinary nature of NbS scholarship, we argue attention must be focused on the potential for exclusion of key knowledge systems from policy and governance processes

Chapter 5: A nature-based approach to building Water Smart Cities

Cities around the world need to rethink the way they deal with water and develop into water smart cities. This chapter will address a shift in urban water management towards water smart cities using three strategies: (1) restore degraded ecosystems in natural surroundings of cities; (2) implement Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) on a large scale; (3) close the urban water cycle and treat water as a resource. NBS are solutions inspired by, supported by or copied from nature. The Water Smart City approach integrates urban water management on a district, city and catchment scale. Furthermore, innovation and close collaboration between local stakeholders, businesses and research institutes are a key part of this approach, to continuously learn and improve the solutions. By collecting and analysing data, cities can create an evidence base for nature-based adaptation. Case studies presented are Oslo, New Delhi and Ho Chi Minh City. The chapter concludes with a roadmap to become a Water Smart City

Economic Losses of Heat-Induced Reductions in Outdoor Worker Productivity: a Case Study of Europe

European countries have experienced strong heat waves over the last two decades. The frequency and magnitude of such extreme weather events are expected to increase in the near future. Using an interdisciplinary approach, which combines meteorological, epidemiological and economic analyses, we assess the cost of heat-induced reductions in outdoor worker productivity in Europe caused by the heat waves in August of 2003, July of 2010, and July of 2015. We found that for the top ten most affected European countries, average direct economic losses in agriculture accounted for $59–90 per worker and for construction, it was$41–72 per worker. Direct economic losses were especially high in countries, such as Cyprus, Italy, and Spain. Social costs of heat-induced reductions in worker productivity in agriculture and construction account for an average of $2–3 per capita

Extreme weather impacts on maize yield : The case of Shanxi Province in China

Extreme weather can have negative impacts on crop production. In this study, we statistically estimate the impacts of dry days, heat waves, and cold days on maize yield based on household survey data from 1993 to 2011 in ten villages of Shanxi province, China. Our results show that dry days, heat waves, and cold days have negative effects on maize yield, although these effects are marginal if these extreme events do not increase dramatically. Specifically, a one percent increase in extreme-heat-degree-days and consecutive-dry-days results in a maize yield declines of 0.2% and 0.07%, respectively. Maize yield also is reduced by 0.3% for cold days occurring during the growing season from May to September. However, these extreme events can increase dramatically in a warmer world and result in considerable reduction in maize yields. If all the historical temperatures in the villages are shifted up by 2 degrees Celsius, total impacts of these extreme events would lead to a reduction of maize yield by over 30 percent. The impacts may be underestimated since we did not exclude the offset effect of adaptation measures adopted by farmers to combat these extreme events

Making physical climate risk assessments relevant to the financial sector – Lessons learned from real estate cases in the Netherlands

Climate change is an important additional risk for the financial sector. For (large) investments in real estate, it is becoming increasingly important to take climate related risks into account. Yet, generating tailored physical climate risk information to make meaningful decisions about investment portfolios remains difficult. Using literature review, semi-structured interviews and reflection on four case studies implemented in the Netherlands, this paper presents lessons learned and recommendations for improving Physical Climate Risk Assessments (PCRA) for the financial sector. Results from the literature review show that simply selecting a PCRA methodology does not guarantee uptake of information by end-users, because there is no single approach that is suitable for all contexts. From the case interviews, we conclude that effective PCRA information is helpful for the financial sector in several ways; first, it supports investors to pinpoint which assets need attention and how much money is required to mitigate the impacts. Second, they serve as a template upon which clients make purchasing decisions. Third, they serve as a tool for determining the choice of building materials and the structure of properties. Fourth, they assist firms in the development of plausible adaptation strategies. Furthermore, we identified five cardinal points (that incorporate the perspectives of both providers and end-users) to improve the PCRA process: 1) Engagement and co-production, 2) Needs identification, 3) Data availability and quality, 4) Internal integration, and 5) Communication. These recommendation points will serve as a valuable reference to guide the selection and implementation of the most appropriate PCRA method for a given situation