Search Climate Insights Directory

The document distinguishes between incremental adaptation, which improves existing practices, and transformational adaptation, which involves systemic structural changes to address the root causes of vulnerability. It argues that as climate risks in Alberta increase—including rising temperatures and more variable precipitation—cities like Calgary and Edmonton may need to adopt transformational approaches to avoid unsustainable development paths. The text outlines qualities of a resilient city, such as flexibility and integration, and uses the Netherlands' Delta Programme as a case study of a proactive, systems-based approach to flood management. It concludes with strategic, regulatory, and community recommendations to enable transformational change.

The document argues that Alberta's cities must move beyond historical climatic patterns to build resilience against more frequent and intense extreme weather events. It emphasizes integrating climate projections into emergency planning, investing in robust and redundant infrastructure, and fostering community resourcefulness through participatory engagement.

The author contends that traditional attempts to control water through artificial solutions have created vulnerabilities that are now being exposed by a changing climate. The document advocates for a 'resilience mindset' in water management, particularly within humanitarian and development funding, moving away from short-term recovery toward long-term capacity for communities to thrive despite recurrent water challenges. This approach emphasizes the use of predictive models, early warning systems, and the integration of indigenous knowledge. To implement this, the Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) has focused on the Sahel, Horn of Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, and has launched a Water Window Challenge with a $10 million commitment from the Z Zurich Foundation to fund innovative flood-resilience solutions.

The document outlines a CDKN-supported initiative in Quito, Ecuador, to address climate vulnerabilities such as landslides and wildfires affecting low-income hillside communities. Through a vulnerability study and a five-year Action Plan, the project promoted ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture, and the integration of climate resilience into municipal development planning.

The document details the impact of SUMERNET's research projects across the Mekong Region, focusing on flood risk reduction, urbanization, green tourism, forest conservation, and water governance. It highlights the network's growth from 14 to over 60 institutes and its shift toward cross-border collaboration and 'Outcome Mapping' to ensure research findings influence policy and improve local livelihoods.

The report details a USAID-funded project led by the Stockholm Environment Institute to integrate climate change considerations into Colombian water management. By deploying the WEAP modeling system and a participatory RDS process in the Otún, La Vieja, and Alto Magdalena watersheds, the program built technical capacity within regional environmental authorities (CARs) and academic institutions. Key findings include the critical role of páramo ecosystems in maintaining dry-season baseflows and the potential for hydropower development to disrupt downstream wetland dynamics in the Magdalena-Cauca basin. The project emphasizes moving from 'conscious incompetence' to 'conscious competence' in climate adaptation planning through institutional capacity building and the creation of a professional community of practice.

The document argues that climate change adaptation measures involving green and blue areas provide significant co-benefits for human health, which are often overlooked in policy design. It develops a conceptual framework based on five pathways: prevention of climate and pollution effects, improvement of ecosystem quality, social environment benefits, economic activity development, and interaction with microorganisms. The authors review existing literature using objective, self-reported, and mixed methodologies, finding a generally positive but inconsistent correlation between natural environments and health outcomes, with green areas being more extensively studied than blue areas.

The White House Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience provided 35 recommendations across seven themes to help U.S. communities adapt to climate change. Key priorities include increasing coordination between federal agencies, integrating climate vulnerabilities into all federal policy and funding, and supporting vulnerable populations, including tribal and low-income communities. The federal government has responded with several initiatives, such as the Climate Resilience Toolkit, the National Disaster Resilience Competition, and specific funding requests in the FY 2016 budget for flood, coastal, and drought resilience.

This case study, part of the Baltic COMPASS project, analyzes flood risk and river basin management in Kristianstad, Sweden, identifying significant barriers to adaptive river management, including a lack of cross-sectoral integration and the absence of a river basin-wide governance structure for water flows.

The report analyzes flood and nutrient risks in Kristianstad, Sweden, finding that current flood risk management is too narrowly focused on urban flood control via embankments and pumps, neglecting river basin-wide abatement and resilience. It identifies a lack of cross-sectoral integration between urban planning, agriculture, and forestry, and notes that governance structures for water quantity are fragmented compared to those for water quality. The author argues for a shift toward 'adaptive river management'—living with floods—to better address climate change and sea-level rise.

The document examines the application of the Partners for Resilience (PfR) approach in Barangay Potrero, Malabon City, to address chronic flooding. It highlights the importance of localising early warning systems, fostering inter-city cooperation within the Tullahan River Basin, and integrating climate science into community-based disaster risk management.

The document examines how increasing the Degree of Regulation (DOR) through hydropower dams in the Magdalena River Basin affects the Mompos Depression. While current regulation is low, the addition of 30 planned projects could increase the DOR from 5% to 30%, significantly altering seasonal and low flows critical for biodiversity. The analysis finds that these dams would not protect against extreme floods, as safety releases during peak flows are necessary, and that reducing lateral connectivity via levees could increase peak flows downstream in cities like Barranquilla.

The report examines flood resilience in the River Derwent catchment, Cumbria, using a Sustainable Livelihoods Approach. It analyzes how different communities—from hill farms to post-industrial towns—mobilize human, social, financial, physical, and place-based resources. Key findings highlight the role of 'Communities of Resilience Practice' (CoRP), the importance of 'broker' individuals in linking communities to power, and the tension between structural defenses and long-term risk management. The study proposes a set of qualitative indicators to measure community resilience over time.

The document describes a CDKN-START programme that successfully transitioned Gorakhpur's District Disaster Management Plan from a coordination-focused document to a climate-sensitive plan. This was achieved using the 'Shared Learning Dialogue' (SLD) process and the Climate Resilience Framework to bridge gaps in technical capacity and inter-departmental coordination. Key achievements include the use of simplified extreme event analysis over standard regional models to increase government buy-in and the establishment of a mandate for integrating disaster risk reduction into annual development plans.

The 4PCCD project (2011-2013) implemented a Participatory Action Plan Development methodology in Maputo, Mozambique, to integrate local community knowledge into climate adaptation planning. By establishing a Climate Planning Committee (CPC) in the Chamanculo C bairro, the project empowered residents to develop a Community Plan for Climate Change Adaptation focused on drainage, waste management, and infrastructure to combat recurrent flooding. The project demonstrated that municipalities can accelerate climate policy development by engaging local communities, though it highlighted the need for sufficient time and funding for meaningful consultation and detailed scientific impact assessments. While formal long-term partnership commitments were not fully proven within the project's lifetime, the initiative fostered new networks between residents, the National Fund for the Environment of Mozambique (FUNAB), and other institutional actors.

The Western Province of Sri Lanka is utilizing urban and peri-urban agriculture and forestry to enhance climate resilience, specifically through the rehabilitation of abandoned paddy lands and the intensification of home gardening. Pilot projects in Kesbewa demonstrate that these interventions can reduce flood risks by improving storm water infiltration and lower greenhouse gas emissions by reducing food transport needs. The document argues for a 'green mosaic' urban design and the alignment of local, provincial, and national policies—including the revision of the Paddy Act—to scale these low-cost adaptation strategies.

The report examines how climate hazards—such as permafrost degradation, sea-level rise, and extreme weather—threaten Canadian infrastructure, including transportation, buildings, and water systems. It finds that while significant economic costs are already being incurred and research is extensive, policy and regulatory responses remain nascent and investment decisions are not yet substantially driven by adaptation needs. The document details regional vulnerabilities and explores enabling factors such as updated building codes, insurance incentives, and industry-led sustainability initiatives to strengthen long-term resilience.

The research identifies a significant lack of mutual understanding regarding roles and responsibilities among flood risk stakeholders in Australia. Findings indicate that insurance providers felt ignored until the 2010–2011 floods, councils felt limited in their risk-reduction options, and the SES felt over-relied upon for response. The paper argues that achieving the shared responsibility vision of the 2009 National Strategy for Disaster Resilience requires better inter-stakeholder understanding and increased personal responsibility from residents.

The document argues that climate change increases flood risk through more intense and frequent extreme events, necessitating a shift from purely infrastructural defenses to a coordinated approach. Using the Ebro river basin as a case study, it demonstrates how spatial hydro-economic models can identify specific drivers of risk across different municipalities and sectors. The author advocates for a combination of institutional alerts, environmental river restoration, and private-sector self-protection to manage vulnerability and exposure.

The report examines water governance in four European countries, focusing on the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). It finds that while there is a general shift toward integrated, river-basin-based management, significant challenges remain in coordinating freshwater and marine policies, managing spatial boundaries, and ensuring meaningful stakeholder participation. The study highlights diverse models of service delivery, from the privatized system in the UK to the public-private partnerships and user associations in Spain, and the strong tradition of community-led water protection in Finland.