Applying a capitals framework to measuring coping and adaptive capacity in integrated assessment models

Autor(en)
R. Tinch, J. Jäger, I. Omann, P. A. Harrison, Julia Wesely, Rob Dunford
Abstrakt

In Integrated Assessment modelling of climate change impacts and adaptation, there are two main uses for measures of capacity to adapt to climate change. The first is to represent the capacity for proactive adaptation: this can be termed adaptive capacity. The second is to represent the capacity for reactive or instantaneous coping: this can be termed coping capacity. Adaptive capacity helps to determine which proactive adaptation options are feasible as inputs to the models under any given pair of climate and socio-economic scenarios. Coping capacity represents the residual ability to react to conditions, and influences vulnerability under any given set of model outputs. Using the example of the CLIMSAVE Integrated Assessment Platform, we explain how these capacities can be represented in integrated assessment. We demonstrate how an index of adaptive and coping capacity can be developed using a five-capitals (human, social, manufactured, natural, financial) model of societal wealth and incorporated in integrated assessment models. We find that for very aggregate applications, but not local or sectoral applications, the same indicators can be used to simulate adaptive and coping capacity. In addition, we argue that it is generally unnecessary to account for the depletion of capacity through adaptation itself, and that natural capital can generally be omitted from capacity measures if it is already directly represented in model outputs.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung
Externe Organisation(en)
Iodine sprl, Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI), Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, University of Oxford
Journal
Climatic Change
Band
128
Seiten
323-337
Anzahl der Seiten
15
ISSN
0165-0009
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1299-5
Publikationsdatum
02-2015
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
105904 Umweltforschung, 507013 Regionale Geographie
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Global and Planetary Change
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 13 – Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/759c6de1-aa7e-4d6d-b6c0-9d6c35e71213