Measuring a country's vulnerability to climate change

Measuring a country's vulnerability to climate change New indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity Tyndall Research Theme 3 - Adapting to Climate Change Project ID - IT1.11

Principal contact: Dr Neil Adger

The following information is available on this project:

Tyndall Centre Technical Report 7: Adger W. N ., Brooks, N. , Kelly, M., Bentham, S. and Eriksen, S. (2004) New indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity

Tyndall Working Papers:

1. Adger, W. N. (2001). Social Capital and Climate Change Tyndall Working Paper 8

2. Brooks, N. and Adger, W.N. (2003). Country level risk measures of climate-related natural disasters and implications for adaptation to climate change Tyndall Working Paper 26 Technical Summary Vulnerability, as a measure of the degree to which climate change will impact a population, is a key indicator of the seriousness of the global warming problem and, as such, is a critical area not only for research but also for the development of adaptation policy.

This research will adapt an interdisciplinary approach to provide national level robust indicators of vulnerability to climate change, meeting a major objective of the "Adapting to Climate Change" research theme. The results will prove useful for policy-making, linking vulnerability with adaptation, and will contribute to the integrated modelling efforts of the "Integrated Frameworks" research theme.

The proposed work will provide insights into the constraints on society adapting effectively to on-going climate changes. The project will utilise existing databases of economic, social and institutional variables to provide a comprehensive account of sensitivity and adaptive capacity at the national level for all the countries of the world fir which data are available. The key insight here, drawing on our previous work, is that indicator of vulnerability and adaptive capacity should include measures of insecurity and marginalisation, distribution of wealth and assets, geographical and environmental dimensions, demographic and health status characteristics and social capital.

An explicit aim of the project is to explore indicators of vulnerability related to health status and social capital; key factors both seriously neglected in previous studies. The final goal is to develop recommendations with regard to the inclusion of apposite measure within broader integrated assessment frame works. The project will involve interdisciplinary co-operation between researchers in the Climatic Research Unit, the CSERGE and the Centre for Environmental Risk, with a view to expanding the project to include other Tyndall partners in further phases with outside funding.