IHCantabria launches the ‘Guide for risk analysis and adaptation to climate change on the coast’
This guide will serve as a reference in integrating potential climate effects into coastal policies, strategies and management plans, including adaptation and physical risk management plans related to climate change on the coast
Today, April 17, the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria (IHCantabria) is launching the “Guide for risk analysis and adaptation to climate change on the coast”, which is one of the main products of the Knowledge for Development Project (KDP), called “Risk management related to climate change in coastal areas of Latin America and the Caribbean“.
The purpose of this project was to contribute to capacity building and the development of instruments to address coastal risk management in the face of climate change, climate variability and extreme events in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. Its development was financed by the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development(AECID), within the framework of which the guide presented here was elaborated, with the authorship of IHCantabria’s research staff and the contribution of representatives from several countries.
IHCantabria’s Research Director, Íñigo Losada, is the coordinator and one of the main authors of the “Guide for risk analysis and adaptation to climate change on the coast”. According to Prof. Losada, this document is expected to “facilitate access to the knowledge, methodologies and tools necessary to analyze the physical risks of climate change on the coast, as well as to evaluate different flexible adaptation strategies that will allow adequate planning for the adverse effects of climate change and its implementation, within a framework of uncertainty”.
The following researchers from IHCantabria have also participated in this guide as main authors: Pedro Díaz Simal, Miriam García García (Landlab), Alexandra Toimil Silva, Saúl Torres Ortega and Íñigo Aniel-Quiroga. In addition, Ana Victoria Rojas collaborated in the drafting of a specific annex on the problem of risks on the coast with a focus on gender, intercultural and intergenerational issues, which are so relevant to understanding human vulnerability in the region.
A unique feature of the guide is that it has been developed in collaboration with experts and decision-makers from 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, thus integrating existing experience and knowledge in the region. Therefore, this guide has managed to be inclusive and adaptable to the intrinsic problems of each country. The project, financed by AECID, has also strengthened the capacities of government institutions and other stakeholders involved in defining strategies and actions to address the impacts of climate change on the region’s coastline.
“The application of a common guide will ensure that, although the countries have different levels of development in each of the phases that make up the risk analysis, their results will be comparable, providing an integrated vision of the problems of the LAC coast, which will improve decision-making and lay the foundations for the implementation of adaptation measures,” explains Íñigo Losada.
Its content is especially aimed at managers, planners and technicians working on the coasts of LAC, Spain and Portugal; but it may also be useful for other regions. The authors of this guide hope that this document will serve as a reference in integrating the potential effects of climate into coastal policies, strategies and management plans – short, medium and long term – including adaptation and risk management plans.
Relevant information on the RIBERA C3 Platform
The project in which the development of this guide is framed was financed by the AECID and with the collaboration of the Ibero-American Network of Climate Change Offices (RIOCC), of IHCantabriaThe Spanish Technical Cooperation Office in Costa Rica -through the Regional Program for Environment and Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean (Programa Regional de Medio Ambiente y Cambio Climático en América Latina y el Caribe (ARAUCLIMA)- and the Antigua Training Center (CFCE-Antigua), as project coordinator.
More information on this guide and on other projects relevant to the LAC region can be obtained, free of charge, through the RIBERA C3 platform (IBEroamerican Network on Coastal Risk and Adaptation due to Climate Change). The complete contents of this guide can be accessed through the following link: https://riberac3.com/resources/guia-metodologica-de-analisis-de-riesgos-y-medidas-de-adaptacion
This Guide was generated within the framework of the Knowledge for Development Project (KDP) on Climate Change Risk Management in Coastal Zones of Latin America and the Caribbean, financed by AECID.
