Output Lead
University of Huddersfield
Description
Built environment exert considerable influence over their local climate and environment, and coastal populations are already facing a range of climate-related risks such as cyclones, sea level rise and coastal flooding. Therefore, there is an urgent need to translate awareness of climate change impacts into tangible adaptation measures. Before proposing any adaptation measures, it is important to understand the climate change impact on the built environment in coastal regions. There are studies on climate change impacts on the built environment, however, what is lacking is the integration of climate change with disaster resilience and achieving sustainable development, as indicated in the SDGs. Lack of integration is widely cited. 2019 UNISDR Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR/DRR) suggested that the majority of national processes for tackling disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation exist in parallel and have separate policy and institutional frameworks. Disasters and disaster risk are on the rise worldwide and this trend is expected to continue as climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. A systemic view of risk needs to bring together climate change and associated disaster risks frameworks due to the interconnected realities of modern world as the presence of risk multipliers in the modern context.
Accordingly, the aim of this output is to carry out a detailed review of climate change impact and associated disaster risks on the coastal built environment. This will be very useful for local actors to understand the current risks and for policy makers to make important policy decisions. The developed framework can be adapted by any coastal city/region to understand the climate change impact on the city’s-built environment.