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Seen within this context, the GRaBS project, which has resulted in ‘Adaptation Action Plans’ (AAPs) being produced for a number of European urban areas and regions, provides a valuable resource to help build a better understanding of adaptation planning in practice. Several important lessons can be drawn from GRaBS in this respect. Perhaps most significantly, the project has demonstrated the inherent diversity of adaptation planning. Real variety was apparent in the processes and outputs that emerged from the adaptation planning activities of the 11 organisations that produced AAPs. In terms of the adaptation planning process, this concerned issues such as different levels of involvement of stakeholder groups in plan development and the varying availability (and therefore use) of spatial data on climate change hazards and vulnerabilities to inform the development of adaptation responses. In terms of the outputs of the adaptation planning process, that is the AAPs themselves, a range of approaches emerged. In terms of their status, some AAPs are guidance documents, while others carry statutory status, principally through links to spatial planning legislation. The position of the AAPs also differs according to whether they are stand-alone documents or integrated as sections within other initiatives, for example overarching climate change or sustainability strategies. The content of the AAPs also varies significantly. For example, some are based around generic principles, while others include location-specific content such as specific areas where flood risk management solutions are needed. Similarly, green and blue infrastructure forms the heart of the adaptation responses of some AAPs (this was the focus of the GRaBS project), whereas others take a broader perspective to encompass other responses such as strategic spatial planning and building design. The failure to find a solution to the political deadlock that has ossified the search for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol demonstrates, as Hulme 31 notes, that ‘climate change may ultimately prove to be a crisis of governance’. Hulme argues that the top-down approach to climate change governance enacted through international and national institutions and policies may be less effective than simpler but nevertheless more attainable bottom-up approaches that mix policy styles and principles. GRaBS has stimulated a number of such responses focusing on different spatial scales and on a diverse range of climate risk. Given that patterns of climate risk and vulnerability differ significantly, sometimes at a fine spatial scale, it seems appropriate that planning for adaptation to a changing climate must be firmly rooted in local-scale decisions and actions. GRaBS demonstrates that adaptation planning and responding to the adaptation imperative is not a ‘one size fits all’ exercise. Factors ranging from the availability of financial resources, skills and relevant data, to the existence of adaptation ‘champions’ within organisations and their previous experiences of extreme climate and weather all influence the nature of adaptation planning approaches. Nevertheless, GRaBS also emphasises that adhering to certain principles, including community involvement and the use of adaptation-relevant spatial data (where available), can improve the effectiveness of the adaptation planning process and its outputs. Lessons such as these can assist in the challenge of planning for a changing climate. ● Professor John Handley OBE is with the Centre for Urban and Regional Ecology, University of Manchester. Dr Jeremy Carter is Research Fellow in the School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester. The views expressed here are personal. Notes 1 D. Lüthi et al.: ‘High-resolution carbon dioxide concentration record 650,000-800,000 years before present’. Nature, 2008, Vol. 453, 379-82; and L. Loulergue et al.: ‘Orbital and millennial-scale features of atmospheric CH4 over the past 800,000 years’. Nature, 2008, Vol. 453, 383-6 2 Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, 2007 3 S. Rahmstorf et al.: ‘Recent climate observations compared to projections’. Science, 2007, Vol. 316, 709 4 K. Anderson and A. Bows: ‘Beyond dangerous climate change: emissions scenarios for a new world’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 2011, Vol. 369, 20-44 5 V. Ramanathan and Y. Feng: ‘On avoiding dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system: Formidable challenges ahead’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008, Vol. 105, 14245-50 6 R. Betts et al.: ‘When could global warming reach 4°C’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 2011, Vol. 369, 67-84 7 J. Smith et al.: ‘Assessing dangerous climate change through an update of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ‘reasons for concern’’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009, Vol. 106 (11), 4133-7 8 C. Hamilton: Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth about Climate Change. Earthscan, 2010; and M. Hulme: Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge University Press, 2009 9 ‘Growth in the global carbon budget: Updated global carbon budget released’. EurekAlert! Global Carbon Project, 2008. www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008- 09/gcp-git092408.php 10 K. Anderson and A. Bows: ‘Reframing the climate change challenge in light of post-2000 emissions trends’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 2008, Vol. 366, 3863-82 11 M. Stafford Smith et al.: ‘Rethinking adaptation for a 4°C world’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 2011, Vol. 369, 196-216 258 Town & Country Planning June 2011 : GRaBS Project – INTERREG IVC; ERDF-funded
12 Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change. IPPC. Cambridge University Press, 2007 13 P. Stott, D. Stone and M. Allen: ‘Human contribution to the European heat wave of 2003’. Nature, 2004, Vol. 432, 610-4 14 S. Gill, J. Handley, A. Ennos and S. Pauleit: ‘Adapting cities for climate change: the role of green infrastructure’. Built Environment, 2007, Vol. 33, 115-33 15 R. Wilby: ‘A review of climate change impacts on the built environment’. Built Environment, 2007, Vol. 33, 31-45 16 S. Lindley et al.: ‘The role of spatial risk assessment in the context of planning for adaptation in UK urban areas’. Built Environment, 2007, Vol. 33, 46-69 17 G. Cavan et al.: Climate Change and Urban Areas: Development of a Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Tool. Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, 2010 18 For a fuller discussion, see A. Kazmierczak and J. Handley: The Vulnerability Concept: Use within GRaBS. GRaBS Project Paper. TCPA, 2011. www.grabseu.org/news.php 19 R. Shaw, M. Colley and R. Connell: Climate Change Adaptation by Design: A Guide for Sustainable Communities. TCPA, 2007 20 A. Kazmierczak and J. Carter: Adaptation to Climate Change Using Green Infrastructure: A Database of Case Studies. GRaBS Project Paper. TCPA, 2010. www.grabs-eu.org/news.php 21 T. Oke: ‘The micrometeorology of the urban forest’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B Series, 1989, Vol. 324, 335-49 22 J. Handley and S. Gill: ‘Woodlands helping society to adapt’. In D. Reed et al. (Eds): Combating Climate Change: A Role for UK Forests. An Assessment of the Potential of the UK’s Trees and Woodlands to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change. The Stationery Office, 2009 23 J. Howard: ‘Climate change mitigation and adaptation in developed nations: a critical perspective on the adaptation turn in urban climate planning’. In S. Davoudi, J. Crawford and I. Mehmoud: Planning for Climate Change: Strategies for Mitigation and Adaptation for Spatial Planners. Earthscan, 2009 24 G. Inturri and M. Ignaccolo: Policy Guidelines on Adapting Transport Systems to Climate Change. GRaBS Project Expert Paper. TCPA, 2011. www.grabs-eu.org/news.php 25 Adapting to Climate Change: Towards a European Framework for Action. White Paper. COM 147 Final. Commission of the European Communities, 2009 26 E. Wilson: ‘Adapting to climate change at the local level: the spatial planning response’. Local Environment, 2006, Vol. 11 (6), 609-25 27 G. Biesbroek et al.: ‘Europe adapts to climate change: comparing national adaptation strategies’. Global Environmental Change, 2010, Vol. 20 (3), 440-50 28 J. Carter: ‘Climate change adaptation in European cities’. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2011, Vol. 3, 193-8 29 E. Tompkins et al.: ‘Observed adaptation to climate change: UK evidence of transition to a well-adapting society’. Global Environmental Change, 2010, Vol. 20, 627-35 30 How Well Prepared is the UK for Climate Change? Adaptation Sub-Committee, Committee on Climate Change Adaptation, 2010 31 M. Hulme: Why We Disagree about Climate Change (see note 8) Preparedness for climate change – ASC land use planning study A forthcoming report by the Committee on Climate Change’s Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) will highlight the importance of the land use planning system for adaptation to climate change. The ASC has commissioned Arup to carry out research into how development decisions are currently affecting vulnerability to risks such as flooding, heatwaves and drought in England. Land use planning decisions can directly increase resilience to climate risks, for example by requiring adaptation measures in new development. But if not well thought-through, planning decisions can lock future generations into a pathway that increases vulnerability and could be very costly to maintain or reverse. The project has used Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to analyse the amount of development in flood-risk zones and areas at risk from coastal erosion and the change in area of hard surfacing in a number of locations across England between 2001 and 2011. To complement the spatial analysis, Arup reviewed a sample of major planning applications to see if there has been any take-up of adaptation measures, such as raised floors in floodrisk areas, green roofs and sustainable drainage systems to reduce surface run-off rates, and measures to reduce heat stress. The ASC has also reviewed a sample of Local Development Frameworks to understand how climate change adaptation has been accounted for in the preparation of local planning policies. The review examines whether local planning authorities are working in partnership on issues that require strategic, cross-boundary co-operation – for instance, along stretches of shared coastline or across river catchments. The results of this analysis will be part of the ASC’s wider assessment of the UK’s preparedness for climate change which will be published on 14 July at an event hosted by Lord Krebs, Chair of the ASC, and with a keynote speech by Caroline Spelman MP, Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. David Thompson ● David Thompson is Senior Analyst for the Committee on Climate Change. Town & Country Planning June 2011 : GRaBS Project – INTERREG IVC; ERDF-funded 259
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