Event

For more information from the event: http://searca.org/index.php/news/1239-fourteen-southeast-asians-complete-workshop-on-viaa-for-climate-change-in-hanoi

 

Planning for climate resilience through Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) should address the specific vulnerabilities of a locality that are best assessed using credible and reliable methods and tools. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) thus requires Non-Annex I Parties or developing countries to provide data and information on their vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change, aside from adaptation measures being taken to meet their specific needs and concerns arising from these adverse effects.   In this light, key actors in regional and sub-regional networks and national climate change programs need to be familiarized with vulnerability, impact and adaptation assessment (VIAA) and their current practices. 

 

Vulnerability, in the context of climate change, is defined as the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, the adverse effects of climate variability or change.  According to UNEP (2009), vulnerability is a function of exposure, sensitivity to impacts and the ability or lack of ability to cope or adapt. The exposure can be to hazards such as drought, floods, and other extreme weather conditions.  The severity of the impacts not only depend on the exposure, but also on the sensitivity of the specific unit exposed (such as an ecosystem, a watershed, an island, a household, a village, a city or a country) and adaptive capacity (UNEP, 2009). As such, vulnerability varies widely across various sectors, peoples and regions.  These differences in the degree or level of vulnerability make up the bases for what is known as vulnerability assessment.  Vulnerability assessment (VA) involves the objective evaluation of the effects and impacts of a particular hazard or combination of hazards on an entity or system as well as the evaluation of the adaptive capacity of the systems such as agroforestry and coastal systems.  Thus, VA requires the separate analysis of the probability of occurrence of hazard, and the propensity of the hazard to harm the system as well as consideration of the capacity of the system to respond to minimize or eliminate the adverse effects and impacts of the hazard. 

 

VIA methods have been developed over the past years in natural hazards, food security, poverty analysis, sustainable livelihoods and other related fields.  These approaches, each with its own characteristics and data requirements, provide a core set of best practices for use in studies of climate change vulnerability and adaptation.

 

This forum-workshop aims to familiarize focal CCA points in the region with VIAA tools applied in planning CCA initiatives that address the projected impacts of climate change in the agricultural and NRM sectors of their respective areas. These CCA Focal Points are involved in the formulation of national communication plans, national adaptation plans, or developing adaptation projects. The forum-workshop will present and demonstrate methodological approaches for assessing capacities and gaps to carry out vulnerability, impacts and adaptation assessment. In the process, it will provide a platform for sharing of appropriate and replicable practices and tools for proper VIAA towards shared understanding and consolidation of knowledge and experiences.