IPCC_Managing Risks of Extreme Events.pdf - Climate Access

Chapter 7Managing the Risks: International Level and Integration across ScalesBox 7-3 | Examples of Technologies for Adaptation in AsiaIn Asia, adaptation to climate change, variability, and extreme events at the community level are small scale and concentrate mainly onagriculture, water, and disaster amelioration (Alam et al., 2007). They focus on the livelihood of affected communities, raise awareness tochange practices, diversify agriculture, and promote water conservation. For example, Saudi Arabia has already built 215 dams for waterstorage and 30 desalination plants, passed water protection and conservation laws, and initiated leakage detection and control schemesas well as advanced irrigation water conservation schemes and a system for modified water pumping as part of its climate changeadaptation program (Alam et al., 2007). In India, a combination of traditional and innovative technological approaches is used to managedrought risk. Technological management of drought (e.g., development and use of drought tolerant cultivars, shifting cropping seasonsin agriculture, flood and drought control techniques in water management) is combined with model-based seasonal and annual todecadal forecasts. Model results are translated into early warning in order to take appropriate drought protection measures (Alam et al.,2007). In China, adaptation technologies have been widely used for flood disaster mitigation (Alam et al., 2007). Another example isrelated to the Philippines where a typhoon in 1987 completely destroyed over 200,000 homes. The Department of Social Welfare andDevelopment initiated a program of providing typhoon-resistant housing for the population in the most typhoon-prone areas (Diacon,1992). The so-called Core Shelter houses have typhoon resistant features and can endure wind speeds up to 180 km hr -1 . The technologywas proved to be successful by providing the required protection and was adopted recently in regions stricken by a landslide(Government of the Philippines, 2008) and typhoons (Government of the Philippines, 2010), partly financed by UNDP.adaptation is more effective and less costly than emergency measuresand retrofitting, and immediate benefits can be gained from betteradaptation to climate variability and extreme events. Some factors thatdetermine adaptive capacity of human systems are the level of economicwealth, access to technology, information, knowledge and skills, andexistence of institutions, infrastructure, and social capital (Smit et al.,2001; Christoplos et al., 2009).An extensive list of ‘soft’ options that are vital to building capacity tocope with climatic hazards with references to publications that eitherdescribe the technology in detail or provide examples of its applicationis available (Klein et al., 2000, 2005). For example, the applications incoastal system adaptation include various types of geospatial informationtechnologies such as mapping and surveying, videography, airbornelaser scanning (lidar), satellite and airborne remote sensing, globalpositioning systems in addition to tide gauges and historical andgeological methods. These technologies help formulate adaptationstrategies (protection versus retreat), implement the selected strategy(design, construction, and operation), and provide early warning(UNFCCC, 2006a). Another set of examples includes technologies toprotect against sea level rise: dikes, levees, floodwalls, seawalls,revetments, bulkheads, groynes, detached breakwaters, floodgates, tidalbarriers, and saltwater intrusion barriers among the hard structuraloptions, and periodic beach nourishment, dune restoration and creation,and wetland restoration and creation as examples of soft structuraloptions (Klein et al., 2000, 2005). A combination of these technologiesselected on the basis of local conditions constitutes the protectionagainst extreme events in coastal regions. Structural measures arelocalized solutions and there is a need for localized information such astheir environmental and hydrologic impacts. In addition, there are aseries of indigenous options (flood and drought management) thatmight be valuable in regions to be affected by similar events (Klein etal., 2005, p. 19). It is also important to integrate technology transferefforts for CCA and DRR needs with sustainable development efforts toavoid conflicts and foster synergies between them (Hope Sr., 1996; Sanusi,2005). Adaptation is normally assumed to be benign for developmentbut Eriksen and Brown (2011) challenge this assumption, arguing thatthere is emerging evidence that adaptation measures run counter toprinciples of sustainable development, as both social equality andenvironmental integrity can be threatened. Placing responses to extremeevents into the larger context of other societal and environmentalchanges will be vital for sustainable development (Yohe et al., 2007;Eriksen et al., 2011).A report by the UNFCCC (2006a) summarizes the technology needsidentified by Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention.Curiously, only one country mentioned ‘potential for adaptation’ amongthe commonly used criteria for prioritizing technology needs. Among30 technologies listed in the report, the technology needs relevant forcoping and adapting to weather extremes include, for example,improved drainage, emergency planning, raising buildings and land, andprotecting against sea level rise. Many of these are good examples ofmeasures that link DRR and CCA objectives, namely to reduce overallecological and social vulnerability. Another UNFCCC report (2006b)observes that, unlike those for mitigation, the forms of technology foradaptation are often rather familiar. Many have been used overgenerations in coping with floods, for example, by building houses onstilts or by cultivating floating vegetable plots. Some other types oftechnologies draw on new developments in, for example, advancedmaterials science and satellite remote sensing (see Box 7-3). TheUNFCCC report (2006b) provides an overview of the old and newtechnologies available in adapting to changing environments, includingclimate change. The Disaster Reduction Hyperbase in Asia is a webbasedcollection of new and traditional indigenous technologiesrelevant to DRM that also promotes communication among developingand industrial countries (Kameda, 2007).415