Paving the Way for Climate-Resilient Infrastructure - UN CC:Learn

Chapter 3: Workshop Objective and ScopeKey issuesThe need for longer-term deliberative adaptation actions‘‘Given thatinfrastructureinvestments can have30-year economiclife expectancies, it isnecessary to adaptto today’s andtomorrow’s hazardsand climate conditions.’’Historically, responses to weather-induced events has generally been dealt with in a very ad hoc, shorttermway. Based on previous experiences, assumptions that similar events will happen in the future haveinformed measures to address them. The problem with this approach in the context of climate change isthat history is not the appropriate indicator of what is expected to happen in the future. Likely scenariosof future climate-related experiences are unprecedented and characterized by uncertainty. Therefore,society’s actions must be much more deliberative and forward thinking. This has significant implicationsfor when and where to invest, the type of investment that is necessary, as well as addressing intergenerationalissues that go beyond political life cycles. These considerations have to be made in a much moresystematic way in order to effectively manage climate change risks and opportunities.Figure 3.1: Moving from short-term and ad hoc adaptation toward longer-term anddeliberative adaptationLonger-termAdaptationAd hocDeliberativeHistoricalexperienceShort-termThe need for a framework for climate-resilient infrastructureIn the context of long-term climate change, previous concepts of ‘weather-proofing’ or ‘hazard-proofing’of infrastructure investments that rely on past records as an indication of future hazards are no longersufficient. Given that infrastructure investments can have 30-year economic life expectancies, it is necessaryto adapt to today’s and tomorrow’s hazards and climate conditions. The actions that countries door do not take will affect future impacts, but what these impacts will look like specifically is uncertain.Societies must be sure that investments of scarce resources are resilient to the range of possibilities thatwill manifest. An updated concept for increasing the climate resiliency of infrastructure must thereforeinclude the right type of advanced information for guiding the decision-making processes (see Figure 3.2).This has not happened yet in many places.12Paving the Way for Climate-Resilient Infrastructure: Conference Proceedings