Journal of Oceanography and Marine Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2572-3103
ISSN: 2572-3103
Donovan Burton
Climate Planning Australia
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Oceanography
Planning for the impacts of climate change is a complex and challenging issue. Solutions can only be driven through informed decision-making and to date there is little evidence to suggest that this is occurring in any meaningful way in most of the cities around the world. For local and city governments managing climate change is complex and fraught with challenges associated with resource constraints, community buy-in, legal risks and political positioning. At the moment it seems that there is an over-emphasis on the risk assessment approach to climate change adaptation â�?�? which more often than not results in stagnant reports that lead to responses that are cherry-picked and tend to align with available resources or political allocations of the day. Focusing on climate change adaptation governance is about the core system that supports climate change adaptation actions. It includes institutional arrangements, resource allocation, executive and interdepartmental support, inclusion in strategic planning, financial planning and any other activity that will enable climate change adaptation to be mainstreamed into a city councilâ�?�?s activities. Donovan Burton has created a suite of indicators to help cities step away from the risk-assessment first approach. The Informed.Cityâ�?¢ process allows decision makers at the municipal level to take stock of where they are at in regards to climate change adaptation. Think of the process similar to climate change adaptation genomics. Like genomics in the sciences the Informed.Cityâ�?¢ process allows the organisation to identify areas that may experience future shocks, identify markers that require modification and help local and city governments transition towards mainstreaming adaptation. This presentation highlights the results from over 50 Cities.