Enhancing the Practical Utility of Risk Assessments in Climate Change Adaptation

Angela Connelly, Jeremy Carter, John Handley and Stephen Hincks
Additional contact information
Angela Connelly: Department of Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Jeremy Carter: Department of Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
John Handley: Department of Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Stephen Hincks: Department of Urban Studies and Planning, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: In 2012, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) moved from a vulnerability to a risk-based conception of climate change adaptation. However, there are few examples of work that translates this approach into climate change adaptation practice, in order to demonstrate the practical utility of following a risk-based approach to adapting to climate change. The paper explores critically the differing conceptions of vulnerability and risk across the literature relating to disaster risk management and climate change adaptation. The paper also examines a selection of spatially focused climate change vulnerability and risk assessment methodologies in this context. In doing so, we identify issues with the availability of spatial data to enable spatial risk-based climate change assessments. We argue that the concept of risk is potentially favorable in helping cities to understand the challenges posed by climate change, identify adaptation options, and build resilience to the changing climate. However, we suggest that change is needed in the way that practitioners and policymakers engage with risk-based concepts if they are to be embed into climate change adaptation activities.

Keywords: climate change adaptation; climate resilience; climate risk; spatial planning; climate change risk assessment; climate change vulnerability assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1399/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1399/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1399-:d:144171

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().