Living with climate change: are there limits to adaptation?

Living with climate change: are there limits to adaptation?

 7 & 8 February 2008, Royal Geographical Society, London

Conference's Podcasts and Presentations

The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the University of Oslo, with the support of the Global Environmental Change and Human Security (GECHS) project, held a very successful two day international conference on 7 and 8 of February 2008 at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The title of the conference was "Living with climate change: are there limits to adaptation?"

The overall objective of this conference was to consider strategies for adapting to climate change, in particular to explore the potential barriers to adaptation that may limit the ability of societies to adapt to climate change and to identify opportunities for overcoming these barriers.

Day 1: Thursday 7th February 2008

Living with Climate Change Are there Limits to Adaptation? Neil Adger

Theme 1, Adapting to thresholds in physical and ecological systems:

Keynote Theme I Garry Peterson

Adapting to the effects of climate change on water supply reliability

Nigel Arnell and Matt Charlton

Norse Greenland Settlement And limits to adaptation

Andy Dugmore, Christian Keller, Tom Mcgovern and Andy Casely

Climate prediction: a limit to adaptation?  

Suraje Dessai, Mike Hulme, Robert Lempert and Roger Pielke, Jr.

Protecting London from Tidal

Tim Reeder, Owen Tarrant, Jon Wicks, Luke Lovell

Conclusions  Saleemul Huq

Theme 2, The role of values and culture in adaptation:

Keynote for Theme 2, The role of values and culture in adaptationThe Histories. Current Situation and Possible Futures of the “Adaptation” Concept Ben Orlove

"Where's the ice gone?" Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in an Inuit community James Ford

Applying climate information in Africa: how do current efforts centered on climate variability promote adaptation to climate change? Anthony Patt

Governance Mechanisms to Address Flow Variability in Water Treaties  Alena Drieschova, Mark Giordano and Itay Fischhendler

Understanding Ecosystem Dennis Ojima and Robert Corell

Conceptual and practical barriers to adaptation Johanna Wolf, Irene Lorenzoni and Roger Few

Religion and risk: The challenge of harnessing faith and reducing exposure  Lisa Schipper

Values, cost-benefit analysis and adaptation to climate change  Alistair Hunt and Tim Taylor

Climate Change and Changing Values in Norway: Are there limits to adaptation? Karen O’Brien

Adapting to Climate Change in Reindeer Herding: The Nation-State as Problem and Solution Erik S. Reinert , Iulie Aslaksen, Inger Marie G. Eira, Svein Mathiesen, Hugo Reinert & Ellen Inga Turi

Day 2: Friday 8th February 2008

An analysis of Practical Action’s experience on the role of culture and values in programmes of community-based adaptation to climate change Rachel Berger and Jonathan Ensor

Should we hang up our nets? Adaptation and conflict within fisheries - insights for living with climate change Sarah Coulthard

Adaptation to Climate Change in the UK: A Case Study of the Boscastle Harbour Flood Disaster  Tori L. Jennings

Exploring Cultural Dimensions to Climate Change  Thomas Heyd & Nick Brooks

Adapting to an Uncertain Climate on the Great Plains: Testing Hypotheses on Historical Populations  Roberta Balstad, Roly Russell, and Vladimir Gil

Theme 3 Governance, knowledge and technologies for adaptation:

Keynote for Theme 3 Governance, knowledge and technologies for adaptation. Whether Our Levers Are Long Enough and the Fulcrum Strong?  Susanne C. Moser

Decentralized Planning and Adaptation to Drought in Rural Northeast Brazil: the Application of GIS and Participatory Appraisal toward Transparent Governance  Timothy J. Finan and Donald R. Nelson

Is the Past a Useful Guide? Rural Institutions and the Adaptive Capacity of Impoverished Populations in Ethiopia and Vietnam  Arun Agrawal and Nicolas Perrin

Local adaptations to climate extremes in rural Africa: opportunities and barriers Marisa Goulden, Lars Otto Næss, Katharine Vincent and Neil Adger

Climate change and pandemic influenza: Thresholds and adaptation  Kirsty Duncan

Good urban climate adaptation governance: Lessons from analysis of 10 Asian cities  Tom Mitchell and Thomas Tanner

Hidden costs and disparate uncertainties: Trade-offs involved in Approaches to Climate Policy Emma L. Tompkins

Climate change and adaptive human migration research: new methods, empirical findings and technologies Robert McLeman

Decentralization Window of Opportunity for Successful Adaptation? A Case Study from Burkina Faso Maria Brockhaus

Governance Limits to Effective Global Financial Support for Adaptation to Climate Change Annett Möhner

Summing up and reflections  Andrew Watkinson and Neil Adger