Search Climate Insights Directory

The IAI's 2013-2014 report details the management of several research networks, including the Cooperative Research Networks (CRN3) and the MacArthur Foundation project, focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to global change. Key achievements include the development of a GIS-based climate assistant for the tropical Andes, the publication of a guide on urban climate responses in Latin America, and the establishment of strategic partnerships with IPBES, UNESCO, and Future Earth. The report also highlights the transition of the IAI's executive office to Montevideo and ongoing efforts to integrate social sciences into climate research to better inform policy decisions.

The project addresses the lack of empirical research on the links between social and ecological resilience in heterogeneous territories facing rapid environmental change. By conducting multi-stakeholder workshops in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia, the project co-designed research questions with participants ranging from civil society to national government. Parallel conceptual work includes a literature review of resilience definitions and the creation of a comparative territory baseline using economic, social, and geographical variables for the four study regions.

The document outlines a comprehensive Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework for Haiti's National Adaptation Plan (NAP), which targets 340 adaptation measures in agriculture, health, infrastructure, and water resources. It defines a multi-level indicator system (contextual, strategic, sectoral, and operational) and proposes a phased implementation roadmap from 2026 to 2030. The framework emphasizes gender and social inclusion (GESI), institutional coordination through the Ministry of Environment and the National Committee on Climate Change, and the use of digital platforms for data management and international reporting to the UNFCCC.

The Bekwai Municipal Assembly identifies rainfall variability, forest fires, water scarcity, windstorms, and flooding as its main climate hazards. The document assesses vulnerabilities across five key sectors, noting that services, trade, and finance have the lowest vulnerability score (-0.23), while agriculture and water, health, and sanitation are highlighted as areas of greater concern. Proposed adaptation measures include implementing smart agriculture, modern irrigation, crop insurance, and enhancing climate education.

The document provides a framework for integrating gender considerations into National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes through five actions: getting informed via gender analysis, committing to strategic entry points, connecting gender and adaptation actors, assessing impacts using sex-disaggregated data, and reflecting to improve results. It notes that while most NAP documents mention gender, there is a lack of detailed analysis on gender differences and specific implementation plans for adaptation action.

The document outlines predictable trends and critical unknowns for the Southern African region, noting a decline in solar energy costs and increasing climate vulnerability, while questioning the pace of EV adoption, infrastructure availability, and the role of South Africa's auto-manufacturing protections.

Chad's updated NDC aims for a 19.3% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to a business-as-usual scenario, primarily through energy efficiency and reforestation. The plan identifies agriculture as the dominant emission source (95%) and emphasizes extreme vulnerability to droughts and floods. Implementation requires an estimated 6.7 billion USD for mitigation and between 5 and 14 billion USD for adaptation, with a heavy reliance on international financial support.

The document discusses the conceptual framework for identifying 'climate vulnerability hotspots'—areas where natural systems and human populations are highly susceptible to climate risks. It emphasizes that vulnerability is not solely a product of poverty, as resource-dependent societies often possess established coping strategies. The author advocates for an integrated analysis combining knowledge of climate impacts, threat complexes, and the spatial distribution of vulnerability. Key findings suggest that vulnerability is unevenly distributed across socio-economic groups and that future vulnerability may not align with present-day patterns. The paper concludes by outlining a research agenda that calls for the integration of local knowledge, participatory techniques with GIS, and an international dialogue to establish best practices for hotspot identification.

The CIRCLE ERA-Net project established a Nordic research network to examine local climate adaptation and mitigation through three workshops held in Norway, Sweden, and Finland between 2008 and 2009. The project identified that local adaptive capacity is historically linked to national policy and that adaptation and mitigation are often integrated in local discussions. Findings suggest that while national initiatives are necessary, they are insufficient on their own, and that local capacity in peripheral regions often depends on market-based competitiveness. The project resulted in two joint peer-reviewed articles and a proposal for a follow-up network, NORDCLAD-Net, to further interdisciplinary research and communication on adaptation.

The briefing paper argues that existing global scenarios, such as the SRES, fail to capture the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of local vulnerabilities. It suggests that current local research focuses too heavily on outcomes rather than the evolving relationships between global drivers and local realities. To address this, the authors propose a ten-step 'glocal' methodology that maps these relationships, uses indicators to track changes across different future storylines, and incorporates stakeholder feedback to inform adaptation planning.

This policy brief, published by the Stockholm Environment Institute in June 2015, defines 'frontier landscapes' as remote, sparsely populated areas undergoing rapid transformation due to agricultural expansion and socio-economic shifts. Based on a multi-stakeholder forum at the Global Landscapes Forum in Lima, Peru, the document outlines six propositions to foster sustainable, inclusive, and legitimate development in these regions, emphasizing the need for early action, common ground, institutional capacity, political support, valuation of actor diversity, and robust monitoring.

The document examines the limitations of narrow definitions of community-based adaptation (CBA), asserting that local efforts cannot succeed in isolation. It highlights that communities are not homogenous entities and that the success of adaptation depends on 'enabling conditions' provided by external institutions and policies. The author argues that because vulnerability is driven by a complex mosaic of assets and social dynamics, adaptation must be circumstance-specific rather than based on universal templates.

The document identifies critical gaps in current disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts, specifically the neglect of cultural and contextual factors in vulnerability assessments. It argues that DRR, climate change adaptation, and development are currently 'siloed' and must be integrated to avoid unsustainable patterns of exploitation and loss. The authors call for a shift from top-down, expert-driven governance to transformative, bottom-up approaches that incorporate local knowledge and non-economic assets. To achieve this, they propose using holistic, mixed-method research tools, such as Knowledge Elicitation Tools (KnETs), to better understand the tacit drivers of decision-making and organisational culture.

Dr. Juan Declet-Barreto highlights that nations with the lowest contributions to the climate crisis, particularly in the Global South and Small Islands, suffer disproportionately due to exposure and inequitable development. He asserts that marginalized groups based on income, race, ethnicity, gender, or colonization will continue to face the most severe losses and damages. He calls for policymakers to prioritize equitable solutions, integrate Indigenous and local knowledge, and demands that wealthy nations, specifically the United States, provide financial reparations for historic emissions.

The paper argues that while small hydropower plants (SHP) are vital for Colombia's energy transition and decentralization, they are increasingly threatened by climate-driven water instability. It identifies a gap in risk assessment research, which has historically focused on large reservoirs, and introduces a flexible framework based on sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and hazard indicators to guide climate adaptation for SHPs nationwide.

The document examines the challenges of producing and using climate adaptation information in South Asia, noting that information is often supply-driven by researchers rather than tailored to user needs. It outlines the objectives of a regional workshop convened by the World Resources Institute and Development Alternatives to identify investment priorities and improve dialogue between information producers and users.

The report investigates the May 2022 extreme rainfall event in Eastern Northeast Brazil, which caused 133 deaths and displaced over 25,000 people. Observational analysis indicates that 7-day and 15-day rainfall events of this magnitude are exceptionally rare in the current climate, with return periods of approximately 1-in-500 and 1-in-1000 years, respectively. While climate models exhibited systematic errors in precipitation magnitudes for this specific event, the authors conclude that human-caused climate change is at least partially responsible for increasing the likelihood and intensity of such rainfall. The study further highlights that structural vulnerabilities, including unplanned urbanisation in low-income neighbourhoods and an infrastructure deficit, significantly exacerbated the disaster's impact.

The report attributes the 2022 West African floods to a combination of anthropogenic climate change, which significantly increased the likelihood and intensity of rainfall in the Lake Chad and Lower Niger basins, and systemic vulnerabilities including poor water management, rapid unplanned urbanization, and socioeconomic instability. In the Lake Chad region, climate change made the seasonal rainfall event approximately 80 times more likely and 20% more intense. In the Lower Niger basin, the 7-day maximum rainfall event became about twice as likely and 5% more intense. The human toll was exacerbated by the release of the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon and the proximity of settlements to floodplains.

The document explains the methodology of extreme event attribution, which determines how much human-induced climate change has influenced the probability or intensity of a specific weather event. It provides a detailed breakdown of different types of extreme events—heatwaves, floods, tropical storms, snowfall, droughts, and wildfires—outlining where scientific confidence in climate links is high and where it remains uncertain. The guide emphasizes that while climate change influences the likelihood and severity of events, local vulnerabilities and human management often determine whether an event becomes a disaster.

The report reviews a proposed three-year sustainable land management project in four districts of Nepal's Churia Range. While technically sound, the assessment finds a critical lack of social context and gender-inclusive planning. It highlights that the project's design process was dominated by male technical teams and institutional stakeholders, largely excluding women, Dalits, and indigenous people. The report argues that without specific GESI (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion) strategies, the project risks reinforcing elite capture in community forestry and failing to address the specific vulnerabilities of the poorest populations, who are most dependent on forest resources and most affected by climate change.