Assessment of Vulnerability to Climate Change Using Indicators: Methodological Challenges

Tonmoy, Fahim; El‐Zein, Abbas

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-7588-0_8

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Furthermore, aggregation based on arithmetic means allows complete compensation between different indicators when in fact this may not be realistic (e.g., beyond a certain level of sea rise, no degree of adaptive capacity can help small island states cope with inundation). Another problem of both arithmetic and geometric mean approaches is that they assume a monotonic/linear relationship between indicator and vulnerability and thus disregard potential nonlinearities and thresholds in this relationship . Nonlinearity has been recognized in the conceptual literature on vulnerability, most prominently with Luers defining vulnerability as a degree of departure from a threshold.…”

Section: Classification Scheme Of Ibva Studies and Available Methodolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of vulnerability to climate change using indicators: a meta‐analysis of the literature

Tonmoy

El-Zein

Hinkel

2014

WIREs Climate Change

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121

132

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Climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) can inform adaptation policy and help in incorporating climate futures in planning. The literature on CCVA stems from a number of research paradigms (e.g., risk assessment, natural disaster management, and urban planning), therefore making it difficult to extract major directions and methodologies from this body of work. A large number of assessments are based, partly or totally, on indicators which bring up specific methodological problems and constraints. In this study, first, we discuss the most important methodological challenges facing indicator-based vulnerability assessment (IBVA) based on a set of key conceptual papers in the field. Second, we conduct a meta-analysis of a representative sample of peer-reviewed IBVA studies, to identify how current research on IBVA is engaging with these challenges. We attempt to elicit major thematic and methodological trends in this corpus with specific focus on issues related to geographical and temporal scales, aggregation, and nonlinearity. We find that health of ecosystems and biodiversity (28%), freshwater quantity and quality (12%), and public health (10%) have attracted the highest number of studies. Less than a third of the papers in our sample give some consideration to uncertainty and nonlinearity. Assessments typically use aggregation methods that are based on the Multiple Attribute Utility Theory despite the fact that IBVA rarely satisfies the theoretical requirements of this approach. A small percentage of IBVA studies critically scrutinize prevalent assessment methodologies or attempt to develop new ones, despite the raised questions in key theoretical papers about its methodological aspects.

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Section: Classification Scheme Of Ibva Studies and Available Methodolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of vulnerability to climate change using indicators: a meta‐analysis of the literature

Tonmoy

El-Zein

Hinkel

2014

WIREs Climate Change

Self Cite

121

132

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“…145–147 Although useful analytically, precisely because of this synthesis, the concepts are fraught with difficulties, challenging metrics, and an insufficiently consistent approach. 148,149 …”

Section: Discourse On Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health and ecological sustainability in the Arab world: a matter of survival

et al. 2014

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Discussions leading to the Rio+20 UN conference have emphasised the importance of sustainable development and the protection of the environment for future generations. The Arab world faces large-scale threats to its sustainable development and, most of all, to the viability and existence of the ecological systems for its human settlements. The dynamics of population change, ecological degradation, and resource scarcity, and development policies and practices, all occurring in complex and highly unstable geopolitical and economic environments, are fostering the poor prospects. In this report, we discuss the most pertinent population–environment–development dynamics in the Arab world, and the two-way interactions between these dynamics and health, on the basis of current data. We draw attention to trends that are relevant to health professionals and researchers, but emphasise that the dynamics generating these trends have implications that go well beyond health. We argue that the current discourse on health, population, and development in the Arab world has largely failed to convey a sense of urgency, when the survival of whole communities is at stake. The dismal ecological and development records of Arab countries over the past two decades call for new directions. We suggest that regional ecological integration around exchange of water, energy, food, and labour, though politically difficult to achieve, offers the best hope to improve the adaptive capacity of individual Arab nations. The transformative political changes taking place in the Arab world offer promise, indeed an imperative, for such renewal. We call on policy makers, researchers, practitioners, and international agencies to emphasise the urgency and take action.

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“…Por sua vez, os procedimentos específicos utilizados em estudos de sustentabilidade de agroecossistemas são diversos. Neste sentido, índices agregados podem ser uma ferramenta útil, pois permitem captar as multidimensões de um conceito (GBETIBOUO et al, 2010;TONMOY;EL-ZEIN, 2013) e gerar informações antes pouco perceptíveis. A construção de indicadores de sustentabilidade agrícola permite uma visão ampla do desenvolvimento uma vez que os mesmos podem integrar aspectos econômicos, sociais, políticos, culturais, institucionais e ambientais (GÓMEZ-LIMÓN; SANCHEZ-FERNANDEZ, 2010).…”

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Número Completo jul./set. 2019.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ (PDF com Capa e Artigos)

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Assessment of Vulnerability to Climate Change Using Indicators: Methodological Challenges

Cited by 11 publications

References 29 publications

Assessment of vulnerability to climate change using indicators: a meta‐analysis of the literature

Assessment of vulnerability to climate change using indicators: a meta‐analysis of the literature

Health and ecological sustainability in the Arab world: a matter of survival

Número Completo jul./set. 2019.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ (PDF com Capa e Artigos)

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