Conferences & meetings

Recording available of panel discussion on the coastal and marine implications of 1.5ºC global warming

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To mark the release of the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5ºC, the University of Southampton hosted a panel discussion focusing on the coastal and marine implications and relevance for the Paris Agreement. Among the panelists were DECCMA Principle Investigator Professor Robert Nicholls and researcher Dr Sally Brown, who led the recent paper in the journal Regional Environmental Change that outlines the implications of sea level rise under 1.5ºC, 2ºC and 3ºC in deltas, and was a lead author on the IPCC special report. A video recording of the panel discussion is now available.

DECCMA researchers Robert Nicholls (far right) and Sally Brown (second from right) participate in the panel discussion

University of Southampton hosts panel discussion on coastal and marine implications of 1.5ºC global warming

katharinevincent

To mark the release of the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5ºC, the University of Southampton is today hosting a panel discussion focusing on the coastal and marine implications and relevance for the Paris Agreement. Among the panelists will be DECCMA Principle Investigator Professor Robert Nicholls and researcher Dr Sally Brown, who led the recent paper in the journal Regional Environmental Change that outlines the implications of sea level rise under 1.5ºC, 2ºC and 3ºC in deltas, and was a lead author on the IPCC special report. A summary of the discussion will be posted here shortly after the event.

 

 

Reflections on HI-AWARE’s 5th Climate Change Adaptation Policy and Science conference in Kathmandu

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by Katharine Vincent

Last week I was privileged to attend the 5th Climate Change Adaptation Policy and Science conference, which also served as the final workshop for DECCMA’s sister project within the CARIAA programme-Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience (HI-AWARE). Whilst DECCMA is investigating climate change and adaptation in deltas, the biophysical “hotspot” in which HI- AWARE focuses is glacier and snowpack-dependent river basins, which include the Indus, Upper Ganga, Gandaki and Teesta river basins in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

David Molden (DG of ICIMOD), Maheshwar Dhakal (Ministry of Forests and Environment) and Flip Wester (PI of HI-AWARE)

The conference was split into 2 days – the first had the theme “gendered vulnerability”, and the second was a launch of HI-AWARE final products.

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On the first day community members had been invited from the project pilot sites across the four countries. It was very inspiring to hear how the pilot adaptations are actively reducing people’s vulnerability to climate change: through climate-smart agriculture in Pakistan, eco-san toilets in India, and flood-resistant houses in Bangladesh. The gentleman from Bangladesh reported that, whilst he was with us, neighbours were sheltering in his home as the Teesta had flooded and his was one of the few houses that had not been submerged.

HI-AWARE’s findings on gendered vulnerability were presented from case studies upstream, midstream and downstream in each basin. New “genderscapes” are being produced, particularly as a result of migration. Whilst individual women may be empowered with new decision-making capacity when their husbands leave, the institutions have not caught up with these evolving gender norms and thus can still act to impede gender-equitable access to services and facilities. Building on our CARIAA-wide synthesis work on gender-related findings, I participated (alongside colleagues from PRISE and ASSAR) in a panel discussion highlighting results of our qualitative comparative analysis of 25 cases, and the predominant conditions that can support or dampen women’s agency.

On the second day, the HI-AWARE team launched 15 briefing papers describing key findings relating to the projected magnitude of climate change in mountains, heat stress, water availability (for agriculture and urban use), flooding and critical climate moments (in adaptation pathways). This was followed by presentations on their approach to research into use – or research impact – activities, knowledge management/communications, and M&E.

In addition to the content findings, one of my favourite parts of the conference was when HI-AWARE-supported postgraduate students (“fellows”) and early career researchers, communicators and practitioners talked about their journeys as part of the project, and how it has affected their career paths. The confidence and skills gained by these young men and women was obvious, and their enthusiasm and commitment inspiring. Almost all of them also spoke about their improved knowledge and understanding of gender and the importance of communicating research findings for impact. Both of these elements are things we have also prioritised in DECCMA and are, I believe, essential for transdisciplinary research that is effective in enabling socially-equitable adaptation to climate change.

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DECCMA Ghana at the 6th Climate Change and Population Conference on Africa

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by Prosper Adiku

DECCMA Ghana organised a panel session to share their project findings with participants during the 6th Climate Change and Population Conference on Africa (CCPOP2018) held from 23rd to 25th July 2018.

DECCMA Panel at CCPOP (photo: Gertrude Owusu)

The session, under the theme population-climate nexus, was entitled “The Volta Delta: A multidisciplinary perspective on climate change impacts”. Professor Kwasi Appeaning Addo, Co-PI of DECCMA Ghana, provided and overview of project findings. The panel comprised the lead research scientists of the DECCMA work packages. It was moderated by Mr Winfred Nelson of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and chaired by Honourable Dr Beatrice Adiku-Heloo, Member of Parliament for Hohoe Constituency and a member of the Appointment Committee of Parliament.

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Findings shared related to climate change impacts in the Volta Delta, including: policy responsiveness and household adaptation strategies to climate change impact; biophysical and socio-economic factors affecting livestock-based livelihoods; determinants of immobility in hazard-prone communities and economic and livelihood impacts of climate change vulnerabilities. Particular points that arose in the discussion included what the future will look like and recommendations on how to address these challenges.

On the issue of policies promoting or hindering migration, the governance analysis of DECCMA reveals that no explicit policy exists that hinders movement, however, other factors (economic and family ties) remain critical. It also emerged that change in governments do not promote policy implementation as prioritisation of issues tend to hinder the implementation of some policies.

Also featured on the panel was Professor Christopher Gordon, the ASSAR Ghana project lead, who shared highlights of ASSAR research findings noting migration as a key adaptation option with the issues of food security, and disconnect between opportunities at district and national level, being the major problems for adaptation.

The CCPOP is an annual Conference organised by the Regional Institute of Population Studies (RIPS) at the University of Ghana aimed at promoting lessons on the best scientific practices with a focus on potential development impacts on Africa. This year’s conference was under the theme “The Future We Do Not Want” and focused on various risk related themes such as the population–climate nexus, population health and climate change, coastal zones and green growth, cities and climate change, adaptation and mitigation among others.

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Report on DECCMA and Delta Alliance-convened session at Adaptation Futures 2018 “Adaptation practice and experience in deltas in the global south”

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by Katharine Vincent and Peter van Veelen

DECCMA and the Delta Alliance recently co-convened a session on 21st June at Adaptation Futures 2018 in Cape Town on the topic “Adaptation practice and experience in deltas in the global south”. The session included presentations from both DECCMA and Delta Alliance members.

Ricardo Safra de Campos presents on “Migration as an adaptation”

DECCMA PI Robert Nicholls chaired the session. Katharine Vincent from Kulima Integrated Development Solutions presented research on observed adaptations in deltaic Ghana, India and Bangladesh and Ricardo Safra De Campos from the University of Exeter presented the first research findings of the DECCMA project on “Migration as an adaptation”. The presentation showed that households in deltas employ a variety of adaptation strategies in the face of environmental and climate risk, including migration.

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The Delta Alliance Egypt and Ghana wing coordinators presented experiences in delta planning and management. Professor Mohamed Soliman from the Coastal Research Institute presented innovative ways to create natural flood defenses and sand dunes along Alexandria’s coast to stop recurrent coastal flooding. Ken Kinney from the Development Institute in Ghana, presented the challenges of the Volta delta and the process of establishing a network of knowledge institutes, governments and local communities to work on integral land use planning. Both presentations showed that a holistic coastal management plan is needed that integrates coastal management with economic and land use planning.

As with all sessions at Adaptation Futures 2018, DECCMA and the Delta Alliance were invited to provide three “takeaway” points for consideration by the authors of the IPCC 6th Assessment Report. The points were:

  1. There is a growing body of literature highlighting the potential future of deltas under climate change, taking into account sea level rise and sediment flux, among others.
  2. Hard adaptations such as embankments are critical to protect infrastructure, lives and livelihoods in deltas.
  3. There is evidence of a variety of household adaptations in deltas, which include in situ adaptations and migration.

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DECCMA Bangladesh provides contributions to the design of a new adaptation project funded by GEF and UNDP

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by Saiful Alam

DECCMA Bangladesh team members were invited to participate in a consultation to formulate a project addressing climate change risks in selected Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZs) in Bangladesh. The project is likely to be funded to the tune of $8 million by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and will benefit five pilot areas in Bangladesh: Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, dryland, floodplain and haor (wetland ecosystem).

The stakeholder consultation was organized by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on 5 July 2018 at Pan Pacific Sonargoan Hotel, Dhaka. Dr. S. M. Munjurul Hannan Khan, Additional Secretary, MoEFCC presided over the consultation meeting. Mr Abdullah Al Mohsin Chowdhury, Secretary-in Charge, MoEFCC and Dr. Sultan Ahmed, Director-General, Department of Environment (DoE) contributed as Chief Guest and moderator respectively.

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DECCMA, Bangladesh members Dr. Md. Munsur Rahman, Dr. Mohammed Abed Hossain and Saiful Alam attended the meeting, and provided comments on the approach and methods proposed. They also shared feedback on possible adaptation measures, informed by DECCMA’s adaptation research in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta.

Summing up the findings from the consultation, Mr Abdullah Al Mohsin Chowdhury, Secretary-in Charge, MoEFCC, proposed taking into account DECCMA’s adaptation inventories so as to not unnecessarily re-invent the wheel. Dr. Sultan Ahmed, DG, DoE, further suggested referring to DECCMA’s findings on hotspots of climate change risk in Bangladesh.

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Professor Robert Nicholls delivers presentation on “Delta Vulnerability and Climate Change: A Systems Approach”

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DECCMA Principal Investigator Professor Robert Nicholls from the University of Southampton presented project findings in Paris this week at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (National Institute of Agricultural Research). The presentation, entitled “Delta Vulnerability and Climate Change: A Systems Approach” incorporated findings from DECCMA and sister project, ESPA Delta. It was as part of the 7th workshop of a prospective study on “The consequences of sea level rise at horizon 2100” conducted by the Alliance Nationale de Recherche pour L’environnement (French Alliance for Environmental Studies, AllEnvi), which started in June 2017 and should be concluded by the end of 2018. The workshop considered the scenarios produced to date by its working group of experts, comprising 25 people.

Embankment erosion in the Indian Bengal delta (photo: K Vincent)

Come and hear more about DECCMA research at Adaptation Futures 2018

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DECCMA researchers will be participating in the following sessions at Adaptation Futures 2018 in Cape Town:

Monday 18th June

Robert Nicholls will participate in S80 on “Adaptive coastal planning-sharing techniques, tools and experiences”, run by Deltares (parallel session 2, 1500-1700, room 2.64).

Tuesday 19th June

Ricardo Safra de Campos will participate S39 on “Early experiences with managed retreat”, run by Stanford University (parallel session 4, 1415-1600, room 1.43).

Wednesday 20th June

Shouvik Das will participate in S92 on “Multidimensional Framework and Response Matrix for Migration”, run by Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)(early session, 0800-0900, room 2.63)

Katharine Vincent will give a presentation “Gendered adaptation in deltas: Who decides, who benefits, and who loses?” in S64 “What enables adaptation of women in climate hotspots?”, run by IDRC (parallel session 6, 0915-1100, room 1.63).

Katharine Vincent will give a presentation “The process of developing adaptation policy trajectories in the DECCMA project” in S200 “Evidence-based guiding principles for developing adaptation pathways to inform adaptation policy and practice in the context of development”, run by Wageningen University  (parallel session 7, 1415-1600, room 2.41).

Katharine Vincent will give a presentation “Changing attitudes and behaviours among members of a consortium” in S195 “Research for Impact: Dynamic approaches, experiences and lessons on research uptake” (parallel session 8, 1630-1815, room 1.42).

Thursday 21st June

Kwasi Appeaning-Addo will give a presentation on the DECCMA project in Ghana in S180 “Towards an adaptive climate proof freshwater supply in salinising deltas and possible solutions for deltas worldwide: examples from The Netherlands, Ghana, Vietnam and Bangladesh”, run by Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management  (parallel session 11, 1415-1600, room 1.62).

Robert Nicholls, Katharine Vincent and Ricardo Safra de Campos will participate in a joint DECCMA-Western Indian Ocean Deltas Exchange Network (WIODER)-Delta Alliance session “Adaptation practice and experience in deltas in the global south”. Robert will chair the session, Katharine will make a presentation “Documenting observed adaptations in deltaic Ghana, India and Bangladesh” and Ricardo will make a presentation “Migration as an adaptation” (parallel session 11, 1415-1600, room 1.64).

DECCMA researchers present at European Geophysical Union annual conference in Vienna

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by Robert Nicholls and Attila Lazar

A number of DECCMA researchers participated in the recent European Geophysical Union’s annual assembly in Vienna. It is one of the largest conferences in Europe with about 15,000  participants. The focus is on the physical sciences, but it has increasingly cross- disciplinary sessions involving economics, social-sciences and demography.

Attila Lazar from the University of Southampton presented a paper on “Migration and adaptation under climate change in deltas”, discussing a method and the resulting Bayesian network model on the household adaptation (including migration) decisions for male- and female-headed households in Bangladesh, India and Ghana.

Attila Lazar’s presentation to EGU

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DECCMA PI Robert Nicholls co-convened a session on deltas with Steve Darby, Ester Stouthamer (Utrecht) and Hans Middlekoop (Utrecht). Presenters included Frances Dunn (University of Southampton) on present and future sediment fluxes to deltas worldwide, including the DECCMA deltas; Tuhin Ghosh (Jadavpur University) on plausible future aquaculture expansion in the Indian Bengal Delta; and Attila Lazar on possible development trajectories for coastal Bangladesh (based on work funded by the REACH Project).

A large number of posters were also presented, including an overview of the DECCMA project and a lot of work on subsidence in deltas.

The meeting was a good foundation for exchange.  DECCMA researchers discussed future meetings with Dutch colleagues, at EGU and elsewhere, to extend collaboration on  multidisciplinary delta research.

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DECCMA co-organises session on climate change, migration and adaptation at the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling annual conference in Bangladesh

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by Saiful Alam

DECCMA co-organised a session with the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling on “Climate change, migration and adaptation: Challenges and way forward for Bangladesh” at the 3rd SANEM Annual Economists’ Conference 2018. The conference was titled “Leave no one behind in South Asia” and took place on February 17-18, 2018 in Mohakhali, Bangladesh.

Mashfiqus Salehin introduces the DECCMA project

Dr. Mashfiqus Salehin, IWFM, gave an overview of the aims and objectives of the DECCMA project and the ways in which it has investigated the nature of climate hazards, vulnerability, adaptation and migration in coastal Bangladesh. He explained the empirical evidence received from extensive stakeholder engagement, the analysis of vulnerability in the hotspots and concluded with the importance of household adaptations in the reduction of climate related vulnerability in the coastal region.

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Dr. Bazlul Haque Khondker and Zubayer Hossen from SANEM presented DECCMA’s economic framework. This involved the use of stakeholder consultation to provide insights into the Input-Output table of Computable General Equilibrium model in explaining its linkages with livelihood, income and other economic parameters in the agriculture-dominated coastal environment.

Panelists Dr. Anwara Begum, BIDS and Mr. Saiful Alam, DECCMA, discussed the gender dimensions of adaptation and how the research findings on livelihoods and adaptation can influence climate-related policy and planning in Bangladesh. In an open discussion, the panelists answered a number of question from the audience related to the relevance to climate policy and the Sustainable Development Goals.

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