International

• United Nations
• Australia
• Canada
• Europe
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Other Resources

United Nations

Keeping up with Megatrends: The Implications of Climate Change and Urbanization for Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response, United Nations Environment Programme/Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Joint Environment Unit (Jan. 2, 2013). This report examines the effects of the megatrends of urbanization and climate change on environmental emergencies. The report highlights how urbanization and climate change increase the vulnerability of countries and communities to natural disasters and environmental emergencies and offers recommendations for enhancing the international framework of environmental emergency and response.

Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability: Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Summary for Policy Makers, Chapter 17: Assessment of Adaptation Practices, Options, Constraints, and Capacity (2007). The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the climate change literature and the current scientific understanding of the impacts of climate change on natural, managed, and human systems, the capacity of these systems to adapt and their vulnerability.

Assessing the Costs of Adaptation to Climate Change, International Institute for Environment and Development and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change (August 2009). This report evaluates estimates of the funding needed in 2030 to meet the challenge of adapting to climate change made by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2007. The report examines the strengths and weaknesses of the UNFCCC estimates and concludes that they probably underestimate the true cost of climate adaptation.

Australia

Report to the Victorian Government: Infrastructure and Climate Change Risk Assessment for Victoria, Report to the Victorian Government (March 2007).This report provides a methodology for determining, prioritizing, and managing risks to various infrastructure in Victoria, Australia (including transport infrastructure). The risk assessment includes discussion of identifying climate effects and vulnerable infrastructure, defining risk and climate sensitivity, and infrastructure prioritization.

Canada

Climate Change Adaptation Planning in Toronto: Progress and Challenges, Jennufer Penney and Thea Dickinson, Clean Air Partnership (2009). This case study describes part, current, and potential future impacts of climate change on Toronto, along with steps taken to develop the adaptation strategy.

Canadian Communities' Guidebook for Adaptation to Climate Change, Environment Canada: (2008). This guidebook provides a method for the integration of adaptation and mitigation in the context of sustainable development.

From Impacts and Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate 2007, Natural Resources Canada: (2007). This report reflects the advances made in understanding Canada's vulnerability to climate change during the past decade. Through a primarily regional approach, this assessment discusses current and future risks and opportunities that climate change presents to Canada, with a focus on human and managed systems. It is based on a critical analysis of existing knowledge, drawn from the published scientific and technical literature and from expert knowledge. The current state of understanding is presented, and key knowledge gaps are identified. Advances in understanding adaptation, as well as examples of recent and ongoing adaptation initiatives, are highlighted throughout the report.

Cities Preparing for Climate Change, A Study of Six Urban Regions, Clean Air Partnership (May 2007). This report provides a synopsis of what six Canadian municipalities, that have been touted as "early adopters" or "early responders" on adaptation are doing in their efforts to adapt their cities to a changing climate.

Europe

Urban Adaptation to Climate Change in Europe, European Environment Agency (May 14, 2012). This report explores key challenges facing European cities from climate change; the need for urban adaptation; and how these urban challenges fit within a larger policy framework provided by regional, national, and European institutions. The report describes the potential climate change impacts to cities, characterizes cities in terms of their vulnerability or adaptive capacity, and offers a range of adaptation responses. The report also presents the challenges and opportunities for multi-level governance to support urban adaptation measures.

FTA Presents Lessons Learned from London Asset Management Planning, Federal Transit Administration (Dec. 15, 2011). The Federal Transit Administration has presented the experiences of Transport for London (TfL) with asset management planning in a webinar, the recording and materials of which are available on FTA’s website. TfL manages all aspects of transportation in London and its various boroughs. TfL’s experience suggests that the management of transportation assets will benefit from the integration of climate change adaption into long-term planning in preparation for extreme weather events. FTA felt that London’s experience could be instructive for agencies and planners in the United States.

Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Framework, U.K Highways Agency (November 2009). This report presents a Highway Agency's Adaptation Strategy Model (HAASM) to address climate change impacts, by describing a systematic process to identify activities that will be affected by a changing climate, determining associated risks, and identifying preferred options to address and manage them. Specific recommendations for implementation are made. These include the initiation of a 'quick-wins' program leading to the early application of adaptation actions where these are straightforward, low-cost and their benefits are clear, such as amending design standards for long-life assets to address predicted climatic changes.

Developing a Transport Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation (January 2008).The Sustainable Development Research Network (SDRN) and DfT held an event which aimed to improve understanding of how the UK's transport system should adapt to climate change. This report summarizes the main discussion points from the workshop.

Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in Europe, European Environment Agency (EEA) (2005). This report was prepared to provide information on vulnerability in Europe, highlighting the need for adaptation, to facilitate information sharing among EEA member countries, and learning from 'beat practices in vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning', to contribute to the discussion on adaptation strategies and policies at EU and national level, and to identify current and future information needs towards which the EEA and other organizations might be able to contribute.

National Adaptation Strategies, European Environmental Agency. Website focuses on European Environmental Agency Counties and their development of preparing and implementing national adaptation strategies. This site includes links to adaptation strategies from numerous EEA countries, including Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, and Sweden with more being added as they are developed.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (March 28, 2012). The IPCC has issued a special report on responses to extreme events associated with climate change. The report says that extreme events, such as heat waves, droughts, and heavy precipitation, can create disasters in many regions of the world. Implementing policies to prepare for such events can minimize their effects and increase the resilience of the exposed populations, according to the report.

Other Resources

OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050: The Consequences of Inaction, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (March 15, 2012). This report considers the implications of demographic and economic trends over the next four decades using projections in the areas of climate change, biodiversity, freshwater, and health impacts of pollution. The report projects that the world economy will quadruple by 2050, and that without urgent government policy action now, this growth will lead to surging global temperatures that trigger such climate disasters as more frequent and intense flooding and droughts. According to the report, Miami, New York, New Orleans, and Virginia Beach area among the world's port cities with highest exposure and vulnerability to coastal flooding.

WRI Report Calls on National Policymakers to Integrate Climate Risks, Policy, World Resources Institute (Oct. 18, 2011). This report offers strategies and case studies for global leaders to inform their decisionmaking on integration of climate change risks into national policies and planning. The report, Decision Making in a Changing Climate, calls on leaders to engage the public on climate change issues to ensure they appreciate the risks and have a voice in policy decisions, develop ways to gather and share geographically relevant weather data, and prioritize climate risks in planning and policymaking. According to the report, leaders also should develop tools to assess climate risks and vulnerabilities, such as hazard mapping, and tailor adaptation efforts to address uneven vulnerability among populations.

Health Officials from Across Americas Adopt Regional Climate Change Strategy, Pan American Health Organization (Sept. 30, 2011). Health officials from North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean have endorsed a new regional strategy on climate change. The strategy, which was approved at the 51st Directing Council meeting of the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, D.C., calls on countries to take actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change, including promoting technical cooperation between countries, adding indicators for climate and environmental health in national surveillance systems, and supporting research on health effects of climate change.

Climate Change 101: Understanding and Responding to Global Climate Change, Pew Center on Global Climate Change (March 3, 2011). This newly updated series provides brief reports on climate change topics such as climate science; adaptation measures; and U.S Federal, State, and local action. The updated reports highlight issues including the significance of the global negotiations, local efforts to address climate change, and current predictions on global temperature changes. Individual reports can be accessed at the following links: Overview, Science and Impacts, Adaptation, Technology,  Business, International,  Federal, State, Local, and Cap and Trade.

Degrees of Risk: Defining a Risk Management Framework for Climate Security, E3G (February 2011). This report by the sustainable development public interest group E3G recommends that countries adopt a comprehensive risk management approach to global climate change. The report suggests a three-tiered risk management framework where governments aim to stay below 2 degrees centigrade of warming, build and budget assuming 3-4 degrees centigrade of warming, and contingency plan for 5-7 degrees centigrade of warming. The report also recommends 10 key steps that governments should take to implement the framework, including performing comprehensive national climate risk assessments, developing adaptation strategies that address “perfect storm” events and impacts on social stability, and contingency planning for implementation of a “crash mitigation program” such as geoengineering mechanisms in the event of worst-case climate change scenarios.