Stephen Tyler

A framework for urban climate resilience

Climate change will have unavoidable impacts on urban systems and populations, especially in Asia where many large cities are exposed. Climate adaptation will be essential, and planning for adaptation can be simplified through operationalizing concepts of climate resilience and vulnerability. This article reviews concepts and theories in a range of diverse fields to illustrate how the general notion of urban climate resilience can be developed into an operational framework for planning practitioners. The framework integrates theoretical and empirical knowledge of the factors contributing to resilience with processes for translating those concepts into practice. The framework includes characteristics of urban systems, the agents (people and organizations) that depend on and manage those systems, institutions that link systems and agents, and patterns of exposure to climate change. It operationalizes these concepts through structured and iterative shared learning approaches that allow local planners to define these factors in their own context, in order to develop practical strategies for local action. The viability of the framework is demonstrated through examples from resilience planning activities undertaken in 10 cities across Asia through the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Prospects for mainstreaming ecosystem goods and services in international policies

Abstract Although most management decisions affecting ecosystem goods and services (EGS) are made at a local level, these local decisions are conditioned by national and international policies. International policy domains provide clear opportunities to mainstream (integrate) EGS in ways that can support poverty reduction. However, positive poverty reduction and EGS outcomes cannot be taken for granted. Mainstreaming EGS needs careful consideration because many of the opportunities identified can reduce poverty, but may have the opposite effect if poorly managed or implemented. A major challenge is to ensure consistent policies across scales and policy domains based on analysis of the local situation. In order to support poverty reduction it matters how the mainstreaming is done and who benefits locally. Based on an analysis of EGS delivery and poverty reduction in drylands, tropical forests and coastal areas in the tropics, this paper analyses the prospects of mainstreaming EGS in a number of relevant international policy domains including: i) development assistance; ii) trade; iii) climate change and; iv) international financial institutions. For these policy domains it is analyzed how mainstreaming EGS can contribute to reaching poverty reduction and development goals, what relevant policy tracks for mainstreaming EGS exist, and what priority issues should mainstreaming focus on. The paper next provides an overview of possible tools and mechanisms for mainstreaming and ends with conclusions on what the role of the CBD can be in mainstreaming.

Climate resilience and food security in Central America: a practical framework

This article introduces and tests a framework that applies a systems perspective to food security with an assessment of the food systems resilience in the context of climate change. The framework was applied in 20 communities in Honduras and Nicaragua. Our results indicate that contributions from supporting systems, institutions and processes are crucial to ensure overall food system resilience and critical food utilization and access dimensions. These systems include natural resources and their management and critical infrastructure (transport, power, communications, storage, etc.) along with key institutional policies and processes for participation in decision-making. To improve resilience in food systems, it is important to increase household and community subsistence, local markets and food storage in accessing key staple items for good nutrition. At the same time, institutions must be strengthened to build capacities and monitor trends in food security, health and disease, and emergency preparedness. The framework helped to reveal the dependence of community food security, and especially food utilization and access, on decisions at the regional and national levels, beyond the direct control of the communities. Finally, users stressed the usefulness of the framework in structuring complex interactions of resilience features across different dimensions of the food system, which later could be used to inform local and regional decision- and policy-makers.

Policy adaptability in practice: Lessons learned in the application of the Adaptive Design and Assessment Policy Tool (ADAPTool) to examine public policies in Canada in the context of climate change

Abstract Designing public policies to effectively address comingled economic, social and environmental issues is a fundamental challenge facing sustainable development policy-makers in the twenty-first century. Raising the stakes is the added challenge of doing so in today’s complex, dynamic and uncertain conditions. Policies that cannot perform under such conditions run the risk of not achieving their intended purpose and hindering the ability of individuals, communities and businesses to cope with and adapt to change. To explore the principles of adaptive policies, a four-year empirical investigation was launched in Canada and India to extract practical insights from complex adaptive systems literature and to study the characteristics of policies that have been effective under changing socio-economic and environmental conditions. Seven core principles for creating adaptive policies were identified and a practical policy analysis tool was developed to help policy-makers translate the principles into tangible recommendations. This paper presents the results of applications of the ADAPTool (Adaptive Design and Assessment Policy Tool) by four provincial governments in Canada on policies aimed at supporting climate change adaptation efforts. Lessons learned from the applications are discussed.