Bridging Gaps: Connecting Climate Change Risk Assessments with Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Agendas

Abstract

Changing climates and increasing variability, in combination with maladaptive societal responses, present many threats and risks to both social and biophysical systems. The outcomes of such changes will progressively affect all aspects of ecosystem functioning including social, political, and economic landscapes. Coordination between the three frameworks that govern risk at national and subnational scales, climate change risk assessments, climate adaptation planning and disaster risk reduction (DRR), is often lacking or limited. This has resulted in a siloed and fragmented approach to climate action. By examining risk as a dynamic social construction that is reimagined and reinvented by society over time, this chapter explores how a greater degree of cohesion between these three frameworks might be achieved.

Integration of Climate Change Strategies into Policy and Planning for Regional Development: A Case Study of Greece

“…This leadership role can enhance the region's reputation, attract international investments, and foster collaborations that further drive innovation. Regions can also leverage their experience to influence global climate policy and contribute to the collective effort to mitigate climate change [39,46,62].…”

The role of Europe in building system-wide resilience to cross-border climate impacts

“…Part of the reason for European actors' inadequacy to respond to crossborder climate impacts is that traditional frameworks and policy processes on climate change impact, adaptation, and vulnerability define responses to climate change impacts as a local challenge, mostly within national borders. Consequently, they fail to capture and plan for interdependencies and cross-border climate impacts (Benzie and Persson 2019;Liverman 2016;Paterson and Guida 2021). Previous work on cross-border climate impacts has conceptualised and raised awareness of the potential risks and rippling effects of neglecting such interdependencies (Carter et al 2021;Challinor et al 2018;Hedlund et al 2018;Moser and Hart 2015).…”

“…Traditional adaptation solutions limit policy measures and interventions within national borders (Adaptation Without Borders 2023). These solutions often fail to consider the cross-border nature of climate impacts, and thus, overlook the necessity for international cooperation and transnational governance to address the climate crisis (Paterson and Guida 2021).…”