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This paper aims to present a new framework for climate change vulnerability, impact and adaptation (VIA) assessment. Greater attention has been given in recent years to the importance of conducting climate change VIA assessment prior to, or as part of, climate change adaptation strategies and projects. A VIA assessment provides decision-makers and project developers with information on the location and causes of vulnerability based on local knowledge and scientific data, so that effective adaptation responses that are targeted and site-specific can be designed. A challenge facing practitioners in this field is the lack of clear methodologies or agreed frameworks on how to conduct a VIA assessment.

This paper presents a VIA methodological framework that has been developed through three sub-regional pilot assessments on vulnerability and impacts of climate change, as part of the Regional Gateway for Technology Transfer and Action on Climate Change in Latin America and The Caribbean.

While it is recognized that methodologies and tools may differ depending on the unique local context of the study area and sector under analysis, there are key components that every assessment needs to consider.

The framework proposed can assist practitioners to deliver outputs from VIAs that are holistic, and provide the most appropriate type of information required for effective, context-specific adaptation responses.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the local-level initiatives through coastal afforestation, the natural and socio-economic context of the study area (Hatiya Upazila of Noakhali District, Bangladesh) and the adaptation and DRR strategies generated through coastal afforestation in coastal Bangladesh.

Field observations, focus group discussions (FGDs), semi-structured interviews, and transects were accomplished in both the dry and wet season. Spatial database generated and land use mapping integrated social and technical investigation. Five FDG sessions with participants from different livelihood options (fishermen, farmers and social representatives) were organised and, on average, 15~18 participants participated in each participatory session.

Mangrove plantation can be used to access new land and create alternative livelihoods, which are important for local community adaptation and to reduce disaster risks. Mangrove plantations provide chances for new land management options to be developed for use in Bangladesh.

This study was conducted only at the south-central coastal district of Bangladesh. Data collection to summarise all the socio-economic issues is limited.

This paper can be used for the integration of geospatial and social research techniques to understand the community approach to fight against climate change-induced impacts.

The research is solely conducted by the authors. The conducted approach is a blend of social and technical knowledge and techniques in generating community resilience at the south-central coast of Bangladesh.

Indigenous peoples represent one of the most vulnerable groups and need access as well as hands-on experience in the use of emerging Earth observations (EO)-based DRR solutions at the community level, while balancing this learning with traditional indigenous knowledge (IK). However, complicating any engagement between EO and IK is the reality that IKs are diverse and dynamic, with location-specific relevance and accuracy. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic caused complex risks and cascading effects for which the world was not prepared. Thus, there is a need to examine the lessons learned and motivate emerging EO-based innovations and demonstrations related to DRR and climate change adaptation.

Hence, this study aims to undertake an in-depth assessment of IK related to DRR covering relevant UN instruments and provides state-of-the-art of opportunities presented by EO-based tools and solutions.

The overall research strategy was designed to integrate key components of IK for DRR in a coherent and logical way, with those offered by the EO technology developers and providers. There are several EO tools accessible that are relevant to integrate IK and complement DRR. The study examined and identified challenges and barriers to implement workable and replicable EO solutions in pursuit of resilience.

The key findings of this study will help create a balanced approach by acknowledging the importance of IK for DRR with co-development, co-creation and use of culturally relevant EO data and tools for sustainable innovation, capacity building and youth empowerment. The technological inequalities appear to be growing, and it would be challenging to meet the Sendai Framework indicators.

This chapter delves into adaptation options broadly classified as structural/physical, institutional and social. Building upon these, it focusses on adaptation forms: autonomous versus planned, reactive versus proactive, short run versus long run, private versus public and incremental versus transformational. In doing so, it draws attention to the complexity of climate change adaptation.

Benchmarking ecosystem conditions is a prerequisite to any investigation of ecological systems. It provides a description or better understanding of the system under study. This chapter discusses ecological indicators and the conceptual approaches to ecosystem assessment. It introduces a case study on participatory ecosystem resilience assessment in Infanta, Philippines.

Although people have always been aware of the role and importance of green space, trees, and other nature in cities, wider recognition and policy support is of a much more recent date, for example in the context of current climate and public health challenges. The nature-based solutions concept has emerged as a strong, recent attempt for “mainstreaming” of nature in political, planning, and economic areas. Starting from a description of the role of nature in cities, this chapter introduces the nature-based solutions concept and its current spread and implementation in an urban context. It also raises some questions about the next steps in implementing the concept, perhaps moving away from too much focus on a utilitarian view of nature and ecosystem and toward considering nature as a framework for all planning and decision-making.

Poverty, business strategy and sustainable development. International development planning and poverty alleviation strategies have moved beyond centralised, top-down approaches and now emphasise decentralised, community-based approaches that incorporate actors from the community, government, non-governmental agencies and business. Collective action by Bottom of the Pyramid residents gives them greater control in self-managing environmental commons and addressing the problems of environmental degradation. Co-creation and engaging in deep dialogue with stakeholders offer significant potential for launching new businesses and generating mutual value. The case study rests on the tenets of corporate social responsibility. It serves as an example of corporate best practices towards ensuring environmental sustainability and community engagement for providing livelihood support and well-being. It illustrates the tool kit for building community-based adaptive capacities against climate change.

The field-based case study was prepared from inputs received from detailed interviews of company functionaries. Company documents were shared by the company and used with their permission. Secondary data was accessed from newspapers, journal articles available online and information from the company website.

The case study is about the coming together of several vital agencies working in forest and wildlife conservation, climate change adaptation planning for ecosystems and communities, social upliftment and corporate social responsibility in the Kanha Pench landscape of Madhya Pradesh in Central India. The case traces several challenges. First, the landscape is degrading rapidly; it requires urgent intervention to revive it. Second, the human inhabitants are strained with debilitating poverty. Third, the long-term sustainability of the species of tigers living in the protected tiger reserves of Kanha and Pench needs attention as human-animal conflicts rise.

The case would help undergraduate and postgraduate students studying sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

This chapter provides a brief historical review of nature-based solutions (NBS) to address increasing climate extremes in urban areas and their surroundings, tracing their historical evolution to their current moment as du jour solutions to multiple crises. We review how this term has evolved through multiple iterations used across sectors and its current ubiquity in global policy discussion forums like the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), due to its potential as a “swiss knife” to meet multiple global goals in climate, sustainable development, and biodiversity. We evaluate the gaps between the ubiquity of NBS in current geopolitical discourses around urban resilience and sustainability and actual implementation in cities around the world. While countries are increasingly committing to NBS and similar approaches in national climate commitments, lacking data, technical capacity, and funding continue to limit implementation beyond relatively marginal projects insufficient to shifting worsening trends in climate change and biodiversity loss. We close with four guiding principles for addressing these gaps, emphasizing the importance of connectivity and scale, assessing the direct effects of climate change on potential NBS performance, quantification and valuation, and the powerful job-creation potential of NBS in creating resilience to multiple crises, including the current global recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic.