Application of Social Vulnerability Indicators to Climate Change for the Southwest Coastal Areas of Taiwan

Chin-Cheng Wu, Hao-Tang Jhan, Kuo-Huan Ting, Heng-Chieh Tsai, Meng-Tsung Lee, Tai-Wen Hsu and Wen-Hong Liu
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Chin-Cheng Wu: Department of Fisheries Production and Management, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung 81157, Taiwan
Hao-Tang Jhan: School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK
Kuo-Huan Ting: Center for Marine Affairs Studies, Institute of Marine Affairs and Business Management, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung 81157, Taiwan
Heng-Chieh Tsai: Department of Fisheries Production and Management, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung 81157, Taiwan
Meng-Tsung Lee: Department of Marine Leisure Management, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung 81157, Taiwan
Tai-Wen Hsu: Department of Harbor & River Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 202, Taiwan
Wen-Hong Liu: Center for Marine Affairs Studies, Institute of Marine Affairs and Business Management, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung 81157, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 12, 1-18

Abstract: The impact of climate change on the coastal zones of Taiwan not only affects the marine environment, ecology, and human communities whose economies rely heavily on marine activities, but also the sustainable development of national economics. The southwest coast is known as the area most vulnerable to climate change; therefore, this study aims to develop indicators to assess social vulnerability in this area of Taiwan using the three dimensions of susceptibility, resistance, and resilience. The modified Delphi method was used to develop nine criteria and 26 indexes in the evaluation, and the analytic hierarchy process method was employed to evaluate the weight of each indicator based on the perspectives of experts collected through questionnaire surveys. The results provide important information pertaining to the vulnerability of the most susceptive regions, the lowest-resistance areas, and the least resilient townships on the southwest coast. The most socially vulnerable areas are plotted based on the present analysis. Experts can consider the vulnerability map provided here when developing adaptation policies. It should be kept in mind that improving the capacities of resistance and resilience is more important than reducing susceptibility in Taiwan.

Keywords: sustainable development; climate change; social vulnerability index; Delphi method; analytic hierarchy process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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