Adaptation to climate change in the context of sustainable development and equity

Land use and land cover change in Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh: Using remote sensing to promote sustainable urbanization

Studies of the urban governance of climate change have proliferated over the past decade, as municipalities across the world increasingly place the issue on their agendas and private actors seek to respond to the issue. This review examines the history and development of urban climate governance, the policies and measures that have been put into place, the multilevel governance context in which these are undertaken, and the factors that have structured the posibilities for addressing the issue. It highlights the limits of existing work and the need for future research to provide more comprehensive analyses of the achievements and limitations of urban climate governance. It calls for engagement with alternative theoretical perspectives to understand how climate change is being governed in the city and the implications for urban governance, socioenvironmental justice, and the reconfiguration of political authority.

/pdf/cities-and-the-governing-of-climate-change-1f837r4yah.pdf

Cities and the Governing of Climate Change

Many of the decisions relating to future urban development require information on climate change risks to cities This review of the academic and “grey” literature provides an overview assessment of the state of the art in the quantification and valuation of climate risks at the city-scale. We find that whilst a small number of cities, mostly in OECD countries, have derived quantitative estimates of the costs of climate change risks under alternative scenarios, this form of analysis is in its infancy. The climate risks most frequently addressed in existing studies are associated with sea-level rise, health and water resources. Other sectors such as energy, transport, and built infrastructure remain less studied. The review has also undertaken a case study to examine the progress in two cities—London and New York—which are relatively advanced in the assessment of climate risks and adaptation. The case studies show that these cities have benefited from stakeholder engagement at an early stage in their risk assessments. They have also benefited from the development of specific institutional responsibilities for co-ordinating such research from the outset. This involvement has been critical in creating momentum and obtaining resources for subsequent in-depth analysis of sectoral impacts and adaptation needs..While low cost climate down-scaling applications would be useful in future research, the greatest priority is to develop responses that can work within the high future uncertainty of future climate change, to build resilience and maintain flexibility. This can best be used within the context of established risk management practices.

/pdf/climate-change-impacts-and-adaptation-in-cities-a-review-of-33iz24pktb.pdf

Climate change impacts and adaptation in cities: a review of the literature

This paper describes the impacts of sea surface temperature (SST) rise and sea-level rise (SLR) on cyclonic storm surge flooding in western Bangladesh. A calibrated numerical hydrodynamic model was used to simulate surge wave propagation through the rivers and overland flooding. The model was calibrated with base condition (present climate), and then eight flooding scenarios of plausible future conditions were assessed by considering increased surge heights. Flooded area, flooding depth and surge intrusion length were computed by superimposing the predicted maximum water level information on a digital elevation model (DEM). This analysis showed that for a storm surge under 2 °C SST rise and 0.3 m SLR, flood risk area would be 15.3% greater than the present risk area and depth of flooding would increase by as much as 22.7% within 20 km from the coastline. Within the risk area, the study identified 5690 km 2 land (22% of exposed coast) as a high-risk zone (HRZ) where flooding of depth 1 m or more might occur, and people should move to nearby cyclone shelters during extreme cyclonic events. Predicted area of HRZ is 1.26 times the currently demarcated HRZ. It was estimated that 320 additional shelters are required to accommodate people in the newly identified HRZ. This information would be of value to policy and decision makers for future shelter planning and designing shelter heights.

Impacts of climate change and sea-level rise on cyclonic storm surge floods in Bangladesh

The relationship between climate change and cities is complex. City- based activities contribute signifi cant amounts of greenhouse gases and, simul- taneously, are often more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Dhaka is now the world's eighth largest city and a signifi cant proportion of Bangladesh's greenhouse gases are generated there although, relative to total emissions world- wide, the contribution is negligible. But this contribution is likely to increase rapidly with the continuing growth of the city's population, economy and electri- city consumption, as well as increased motor vehicle use. At the same time, Dhaka is prone to damaging and costly fl ooding, both from the rivers that bound it and from rainfall that generates runoff that is beyond the capacity of the drains. In less than 20 years, the city has faced three major fl oods, each causing huge damage and economic loss. Although the government has taken a number of measures to improve both Dhaka's air quality and its capacity to withstand fl oods, there are further opportunities in both areas. This paper discusses, in specifi c terms, the scale of the threats, the measures taken to address them and the potential for more effective action. Mozaharul Alam is a Research Fellow at the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and works on global environmental change and development integration with special focus on adaptation to climate change. He is involved in several national and international activities and also in capacity building of civil society organizations in the Least Developed Countries to address climate change.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0956247807076911

Vulnerabilities and responses to climate change for Dhaka

Access and Affordability of Electricity in Developing Countries

The vulnerability to climate change for different sectors was assessed based on climate scenarios for two projection years 2030 and 2075. These climate scenarios were developed by using General Circulation Model. Models were run to find correlation with the observed time-series data for 10 particular points distributed all over the country both for base and projection years. The model estimated monthly average rate of change in temperature and precipitation for those locations were superimposed on the observed time-series monthly average data to obtain data for the projection years.

Development of Climate Change Scenarios with General Circulation Models

The human induced climate change is no longer a theoretical concept. There is a global consensus among scientists, professionals, academics, policy makers and strategists that the globe has already committed to certain degree of change in climate system. Climate change will affect all human and ecological systems and socio-economic development activities. Pressure has been mounting on the global leadership to take necessary steps in response to changes in climate system

Mozaharul Alam

Papers

Vulnerabilities and responses to climate change for Dhaka

Access and Affordability of Electricity in Developing Countries

Development of Climate Change Scenarios with General Circulation Models

Adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh: future outlook.

Case Study 3: Bangladesh Floods in Bangladesh: A Shift from Disaster Management Towards Disaster Preparedness