UKCIP enews 1. Decision-making for adaptation 2. Exchanging knowledge & ideas 3. Creative adaptation 4. Events & calls 5. Tweeted… Vacancy at UKCIP: Science Communications & Knowledge Transfer Manager UKCIP has a vacancy in its Adaptation and Resilience in the Context of Change (ARCC) network team. The post-holder will work to maximise the translation, uptake and impact of evidence and knowledge from a range of research projects. This is a 2-year, full-time post. Deadline for applications is 25 September 2015. University of Oxford recruitment:https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id= 119552 1. Decision-making for adaptation Low-carbon, climate-resilient growth - lessons from development A new research report from CDC Climate Research takes examples of current practice in development finance institutions (DFIs), to demonstrate how institutions have mainstreamed climate change and investment decision-making. It also identifies the challenge of aligning activities across financial institutions and the economy to make the transition to a low-carbon climate-resilient economy. CDC CLimate Research: Mainstreaming Low-Carbon Climate-Resilient growth pathways into investment decision-making Informing the regulation of water services The water services regulation authority for England and Wales, Ofwat, is undertaking a consultation on resilience in the water sector. Led by a ‘resilience task and finish group’, the work will take a wide view of resilience, including climatic, environmental, technological and social factors, and this work will contribute to the reform of regulatory and market mechanisms for the sector. There are a number of options for getting involved in this work as the group is seeking to engage widely. Ofwat: Resilience task and finish group – get involved A decade after Katrina, some different views of New Orleans’ future It is 10 years since New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and these two news articles present different views of the city’s future. On the one hand, there are opportunities to recreate the city, using the proximity of water as an opportunity for development and growth. Another view is that hard engineering solutions have contributed to the region’s vulnerability with new and untested approaches offering some radical solutions. The Guardian: Reimagining New Orleans as America's most resilient waterfront city The Guardian: Is New Orleans in danger of turning into a modern-day Atlantis? Adapting to climate change – as well as all the other changes we face Communities are faced with adapting to many changes (e.g. social, climatic, economic) and a recent research paper offers a framework for integrating these multiple challenges when assessing vulnerability and developing adaptation responses. The authors took coastal communities as their theme, and reviewed existing evidence on drivers of change to develop their framework and other tools to assist effective adaptation. Regional Environmental Change: Communities and change in the anthropocene: understanding social-ecological vulnerability and planning adaptations to multiple interacting exposures 2. Exchanging knowledge & ideas Risks of extreme weather to global food system The global food system will be increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather according to a group of academics, industry and policy experts. ‘Extreme weather and resilience of the global food system’ brings together evidence of the likely impacts on food production of extreme weather. The report, published by the Global Food Security Programme, concludes that there is a growing risk of major shocks to production, with the efficiency of the global food system now contributing to its vulnerability. The authors call for action to improve the resilience of the global food system. Global Food Security: Extreme weather and resilience of the global food system (pdf, 2.8 MB) The Guardian: Food production shocks 'will happen more often because of extreme weather' Open data – LIDAR archive available from this month From this month (September 2015), the Environment Agency is to make its LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data available, for free, to all. The move is part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) bid to make all its data more open in order to stimulate new services and innovative resources. GDS blog: Defra's opening up its data Environment Agency blog: Free mapping data will elevate flood risk knowledge Environment Agency Geostore: Datashare Future droughts threaten British butterflies A new study published in Nature Climate Change on the impacts of drought on British butterflies has concluded that these symbols of the British summer could struggle to adapt as our climate changes, with extinction a possibility for some species in some areas. While some butterflies were able to migrate to more suitable environment, this won’t happen everywhere, particularly where there is already pressure on agricultural land. Climate News Network: Carbon emissions threaten British butterflies Results of 10-year simulation of Danish 2075 climate on ecosystem In the CliMA!TE project, researchers in Denmark undertook a 10-year field study to investigate the impacts on terrestrial ecosystems of the likely Danish climate of 2075. Now the project has concluded, an overview report describes the impacts on plants, soil organisms and ecosystems. The project explored the responses that arise from a variety of climate changes on an ecosystem. Impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystem functioning (pdf, 23.9 MB) Collaborations based on values work better than those focused on issues or events In a response to author and activist Naomi Klein’s suggestion that climate change “changes everything”, Amanda Tattershall explores just how to get “everyone” together to make those changes. The article concludes that building relationships between disparate groups before taking action is more effective than enforcing a prescribed plan. The Conversation: How do we ‘change everything’ as Naomi Klein suggests? Let’s start by getting ‘adversaries’ to listen to one another 3. Creative adaptation State of Green – climate services website from Denmark A new online resource promises to share Danish expertise on a range of climate change themes, illustrated with examples and case studies. ‘State of Green’ is a new website, devised as a collaboration between the public and private sectors, to promote Danish climate services, including adaptation. State of Green: Discover Denmark's solutions for a greener future Climate Registry for the Assessment of Vulnerability – CRAVe The adaptation community in the USA is being encouraged to pool its information on vulnerability assessments. The Climate Registry for the Assessment of Vulnerability (CRAVe) aims to share information about existing vulnerability assessments so these can have greater impact by being used by others or developed further. CRAVe is searchable (although a little clunky) and will get additional exposure by being integrated into CAKE – the Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange site maintained by EcoAdapt. USGS: CRAVe Climate Adaptation Knowledge & Exchange 4. Events & calls Adaptation Sub-committee looking for two new members Closing 12 October Further details Introduction to the UK Climate Projections 19 October 2015, Environment Agency webinar Book your place Climate change: innovation for resilience and adaptation 20 October 2015, Manchester, UK Business Council for Sustainable Development Information and booking Adaptation Futures 2016 10–13 May 2016, Rotterdam, Netherlands Call for submissions of sessions and science abstracts – deadline 4 October 2015. 5. Tweeted… Small-scale experimentation to improve policy-making – makes perfect sense |http://bit.ly/1UUQBFs @designcouncil What can social learning contribute to complex problems such as climate change? |http://bit.ly/1Ff9LN7 @cgiarclimate New @NASA videos show stark loss from earth's ice sheets | http://bit.ly/1ifSUVE@CarbonBrief Lessons learned from Katrina – invest in risk reduction, resilient infrastructure & flood management @Zurich http://bit.ly/1JTW1im Some new British homes are imaginative, sustainable & affordable – let's build more! |http://bit.ly/1DX3omC @guardianculture Taking care of vulnerable people in extreme heat – how NY manages health risks |http://1.usa.gov/1J7J1TP @NOAAClimate Shade balls – simple but ingenious way of reducing reservoir evaporation |http://bit.ly/1WletDP @guardian Follow on Twitter | Forward to Friend Copyright © 2015 UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP), All rights reserved. You are receiving this newsletter as you signed up on the UKCIP website. Our mailing address is: UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) University of Oxford, OUCE South Parks Road Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3QA United Kingdom