Governments are increasingly looking to better understand climate change in terms of its significance, extent and options to adapt to a changing climate. There is an increase demand to find solutions by relying on the use of risk-based decision tools, climate change scenarios, risk and vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies to address climate change challenges.
In response, ClimAction Services routinely employs decision tools, web-based tools such as the Climate Change Hazards Information Portal, developed by Risk Sciences International (RSI) and adaptive management approaches.
Decision Tool
The Decision-support System relies on a risk-based approach to facilitate strategic decision making in an open, transparent and consistent manner to establish and compare priorities by:
Evaluating direct and indirect impacts of various climatic hazards.
Ranking their significance (i.e. magnitude, scope and extent of impacts).
Assessing costs and benefits (i.e. cost of inaction).
Assigning numerical values to establish priorities, set program directions and determine a future course of action.
The system will integrate information and data from a number of approaches, tools and models to inform decisions on priorities and future directions including the Climate Change Hazards Information Portal (CCHIP) and adaptive management.
Climate Change Hazards Information Portal (CCHIP)
What is CCHIP?
Delivers the power of tailored algorithms with climate data from large networks of met. station data, climate models
Supported by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) authors/reviewers
Provides actionable insights to help decision-makers plan and prepare for future climate impacts
Gives users immediate access to climate information that was typically beyond capacities of in-house budgets and data resources.
CCHIP is a web-based tool that:
1. Complements and enhances federal and regional climate information offerings.
2. Creates level playing field – provides efficient access to high quality, decision-ready climate information.
3. Easy-to-use – provides ability to quickly generate and compare numerous scenarios.
4. Market ready after 4+ years’ development, testing, and application to real adaptation decision-support situations.
Adaptive Management
An adaptive management approach has proven to be highly effective in reducing climate change impacts. The six steps in adaptive management include:
* Assessing Risks – Understand the risk and vulnerabilities to determine the potential impacts of climate hazards (low, medium, high risk).
* Developing adaptation plans - Tailored plans are developed to address specific threats to protect the industry.
* Implement the adaptation plans – Plans are put into action.
* Monitor the changes in means and extremes of weather/climate.
* Evaluate the performance of the adaptation measures during significant weather/climate events or trends. Document and analyze impacts.
* Adjust the adaptation approach - If measures are not adequate, they should be re-designed accordingly.