Making Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment More Robust:

JUAN M. PULHIN AND MARICEL A. TAPIA

Col lege of Forestry and Natural Resources

University of the Phi l ippines Los Baños

Methods and Information Needs

Workshop for Countries of the Asia-Pacific region: Advancing National Adaptation Planning in Asia-Pacific: Aligning National, Local, and Sectoral Initiatives for Maximum Impacts29 – 30 October 2015Pullman Pattaya Hotel G, Thailand

Outline of the Presentation Importance of Impacts and Vulnerability

Assessment

Concepts of Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability

Methodological Framework for Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment

General Steps and Information Needs

Take Home Messages

Importance of Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment: The Context

The Adaptation Process and Its Four Key Components (UNFCC 2011)

Importance of Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment

Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment

To make informed adaptation decisions

Sound scientific, technical and socio-economic basis

Considering both current and future climate change and variability

Part of the adaptation process

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Uses of Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment

Scale Indices Users

International National

comparisons of

vulnerability

UNFCCC:

Eligibility for

adaptation

funding

Regional

Multiple dimension

profiles of regional

vulnerability

Regional

agencies:

Programme

design

Local

Profiles of vulnerable situations

or syndromes

Local offices:

Project evaluation

Eco-

systems Water

Other

sectors Food Health

Settle-

ment

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Concepts of Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability

Vulnerability – the propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. It encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adopt.

Exposure - the presence of people, livelihoods, species or ecosystems, environ- mental functions, services, and resources, infrastructure, or economic, social, or cultural assets in places and settings that could be adversely affected

Hazard - potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event or trend or physical impact So

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Concepts of Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability

Adaptation – the process of adjustment to actual or expected climateand its effects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human inter- vention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects

Risk - potential for consequences where something of value is at stake and where the outcome is uncertain, recognizing the diversity of values

Impacts – effects to natural and human systems of extreme weather and climate events and of climate change. Impacts generally refer to effects on lives, livelihoods, health, ecosystems, economies, societies, cultures, services and infrastructure due to the interaction of climate changes or hazardous climate events occurring within a specific time period and the vulnerability of an exposed society or system. Sou

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Impacts, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment

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!10! Assessment!of!Impacts,!Vulnerability!and!Adaptation!of!Smallholder!Farmers!to!Extreme!Events!!

7.1 Impacts,&Vulnerability&and&Adaptation&Assessment&!This!study!employs!the!Adaptation!Policy!Framework!(APF)!in!assessing!the!impacts,!vulnerability,!adaptation!and!resilience!of! smallholder! farmers! to!climate!variability!and!extreme!events,!and!eventually! in! designing! a! land! management! system! that! is! resilient! to! climate! variability! and!

extremes.!The!United!Nations!Development!Program!(UNDP)!–!Global!Environment!Facility!(GEF),!developed!the!APF!with!support!from!Swiss,!Dutch!and!Canadian!governments!as!an!innovative!set!of! guidance! for! the! development! and! implementation! of! adaptation! strategies.! Vulnerability!assessment!takes!central!role! in!the!whole!process,!and! it! is! founded!on!four!principles,!which!provide!basis!for!developing!adaptation!strategies,!namely:!

!1. Adaptation!to!shortQterm!climate!variability!and!extreme!events!serves!as!starting!point!for!

reducing!vulnerability!to!longerQterm!climate!2. Adaptation!policies!and!measures!are!best!assessed!in!a!developmental!context.!3. Adaptation!occurs!at!different!levels!in!society,!including!the!local!level.!

4. The!strategy!and!the!process!by!which!adaptation!is!implemented!are!equally!important.!!Figure! 5! shows! that! the! APF! has! five! major! components! (boxes)! linked! by! two! crosscutting!components!(adaptive!capacity!and!stakeholder!context).!Each!component!has!its!own!logic!and!purpose,!but!the!APF!is!flexible!enough!to!allow!use!of!only!one!or!two!components,!or!to!modify!

the!components!to!suit!the!user’s!needs,!depending!on!prior!adaptation!work,!needs,!goals!and!resources!(UNDP!2004).!!For!the!purposes!of!this!study,!WP1!will!focus!on!Steps!1Q3!of!the!APF,!and!outputs!from!these!will!be!used!to!implement!WP2!and!WP3!following!Steps!4!and!5!of!the!APF.!Nevertheless,!based!on!a!climate!scenario!generated!for!Albay!from!a!previously!implemented!project!by!Pulhin!et!al.!(2010),!

future! adaptation! strategies! (Step! 4)! were! also! sought! from! farmer! respondents! in! the! three!barangays!to!adapt!to!future!risks.!!

!Figure$5.!Outline!of!the!Adaptation!Policy!Framework!process.!

!The Adaptation Policy Framework (UNDP/GEF 2004)

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!11! Assessment!of!Impacts,!Vulnerability!and!Adaptation!of!Smallholder!Farmers!to!Extreme!Events!!

!Following!the!APF,!the!following!activities!and!methods!were!carried!out!by!the!project!team!in!the!

impacts,!vulnerability!and!adaptation!assessment!of!smallholder!farmers!to!extreme!events:!

!!1.!Scoping!the!impacts,!vulnerability!and!adaptation!assessment!

!Upon! commencement! of! the! project,! the! CFNRQUPLB! team! together! with! ICRAF! Philippines!

researchers! held! mobilization! meetings! to! discuss! the! project! scope,! methodology! and! the!

instruments!to!be!used.!Since!the!project!focuses!on!adapting!to!extreme!climatic!events,!a!hazardsQ

based! approach! to! impacts,! vulnerability! and! adaptation! assessment! (i.e.,! analysis! of! possible!

outcomes!from!a!specific!climate!hazard)!was!agreed!to!be!employed.!The!hazards!would!zero!in!on!

extreme!events,!namely,!typhoon,!intense!rains!(or!La!Niña)!and!drought!(or!El!Niño),!as!these!are!

extreme! events! to! which! the! province! of! Albay! are! highly! exposed! to! based! on! the! results! of!

previous!assessments!in!its!other!municipalities!(see!Pulhin!et!al.!2000).!Empirically,!it!would!also!be!

easy! to! verify! the! occurrence! of! such! events! based! on! available! records! from! the! Philippine!

Atmospheric,!Geophysical!and!Astronomical!Services!Administration!(PAGASA).!

!Prior! to! the! actual! assessment,! the! CFNRQ

UPLB! team! made! a! courtesy! visit! to! the!

Mayor!of!the!City!Government!of!Ligao,!Hon.!

Linda!P.!Gonzalez,!on!September!5,!2012,!to!

present!the!project!and!discuss!collaboration!

between! the! two! parties.! The! utility! of! the!

project!outputs!to!the!local!government!unit,!

particularly!in!land!use!planning!and!disaster!

risk! reduction/climate! change! adaptation,!

was! emphasized.! The! City! Mayor! openly!

welcomed! the! project! in! Ligao! City! and!

pledged!support!in!the!implementation!of!its!

project! activities,! notably! highlighting! the!

achievements! of! the! projects! in! partnership!

with!the!academe.!!On! September! 6,! 2012,! an! orientation!

workshop!was!held!at!the!City!Hall!of!Ligao!to!

introduce!the!project!to!other!stakeholders.!This!was!attended!by!representatives!from!the!Bicol!

University!College!of!Agriculture!and!Forestry!(BUCAF)!and!Bicol!Extension!Office,!City!Agriculture!

Office,!CENR!officials,!Barangay!Captains!from!the!three!selected!barangays,!People’s!Organizations,!

among!others.!The!stakeholders!acknowledged!the!relevance!of!the!project,!and!vowed!to!lend!their!

assistance!and!support!for!its!successful!implementation.!

!

CFNR-UPLB team (second from left: Aileen S. Peria, Rose

Jane J.Peras, and Maricel A. Tapia) made courtesy visit to

the Mayor of Ligao City, Hon. Linda P. Gonzalez

(rightmost), together with the City Environment and Natural

Resources Officer (CENRO), Ms. Sol Preña (leftmost).

Dr. Juan M. Pulhin, CFNR Dean and Project Leader (left picture) introducing the project to various stakeholders in the

City of Ligao (middle picture), and Mayor Gonzalez giving her reaction after the presentation (right picture).

Step 1. Scoping and Designing Adaptation Project

Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research  

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torrential rains, typhoons, storm surge, dry spells, rain‐induced  landslides, coral reef bleaching and rat infestation in farmlands. These gave the participants ideas on the focus of the vulnerability and adaptation assessments that they could implement in their areas. 

 Meanwhile,  hands‐on  training  on  the  use  of customized  SimCLIM  for  Albay,  called AlbayCLIM,  was  led  by  Drs.  Peter  Urich  and Peter  Kouwenhoven  from  CLIMsystems,  Ltd. Participants  generated  climate  change  and sea‐level  rise  scenarios  using  various  Global Circulation  Models  (GCMs),  as  well  as conducted extreme events analysis and water tank modeling. Results of the climate and sea‐level rise modeling were deemed highly useful in  the  revision  of  the  Comprehensive  Land Use  Plan  (CLUP)  that  the  province  was undertaking.  

  2.4  Actual impacts, vulnerability and adaptation assessment  Following the concepts  learned  in the training, two case study sites were chosen where the actual vulnerability and adaptation assessments were conducted  from May to October 2011. These were the municipalities of Bacacay and Oas, which represent two of the three major landscapes in Albay, namely,  coastal  area  and  hilly,  mountainous  terrains,  respectively.  The  focus  on  coastal  and forest/upland  communities  for  the  actual  assessment  was  due  to  the  fact  that  these  areas  are among the most vulnerable ecosystems to climate change. These are where the so‐called ‘poorest of the poor’ could also be found.  The Adaptation Policy Framework (APF) was used as a guide in conducting the assessment. This is a second‐generation  framework  with  more  holistic  approach  towards  impacts  assessment  and  the ultimate goal of  informing adaptation policy (UNDP/GEF 2004). Central to this  is the assessment of current  vulnerability,  particularly  from  climate  variability  and  extremes,  placing  emphasis  on understanding current climate risks before moving to the  ‘uncertain territories of what  lies ahead’ (Dessai  et  al.  2005).  The  APF  has  five  major  components  (boxes)  linked  by  two  cross‐cutting components (adaptive capacity and stakeholder context) (Figure 1).  Based on the steps outlined in the APF, the following were the methods used in conducting impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, assessment of the coastal and upland communities:  Step  1.  Scoping  and  designing  an adaptation  project.  This  entailed scoping  the  project,  defining  the objectives,  establishing  project team,  reviewing  literature, choosing appropriate methods, etc. Much of  these were accomplished during  the  preparation  of  the proposal, the project’s initial meeting and the succeeding collection of secondary data.   

Defining the objective and scope

Team Formation

Review and synthesis of existing information

Initial consultation with stakeholders

Design of the project

Approaches for Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment

(Natural) hazards-based approach – analyze possible outcomes from a specific typhoon hazard

Vulnerability-based approach – determine the likelihood that current vulnerability may be affected by future climate hazards

Adaptive-capacity approach – analyze the barriers to adaptation and propose how they can be overcome

Policy-based approach – investigate the efficacy of an existing or proposed policy in light of changing exposure or vulnerability

Source: UNEP/GEF 2004

Step 2. Assess Current Vulnerability

Resources, approaches, methods and tools would vary depending on the nature of output desired and the scale

Some impacts and vulnerability assessment methods:GIS-based vulnerability mapping

Sustainable Livelihood Framework

Multi-criteria Vulnerability Index

Use of indicators following the vulnerability components or DPSIR Framework

Participatory approaches (usually for local level)

GIS-based vulnerability mapping in India

Districts in India that rank highest in terms of vulnerability to: (a) climate change and (b) import competition associated with economic globalisation, are considered to be double exposed (depicted with hatching). Adapted from O’Brien et al. (2004)

Vulnerability and “double exposures"

Use of Sustainable Livelihood Framework to Measure Vulnerability

1

2

3

4

5Natural

Physical

FinancialHuman

Social

1

2

3

4

5Natural

Physical

FinancialHuman

Social

1

2

3

4

5Natural

Physical

FinancialHuman

Social

1

2

3

4

5Natural

Physical

FinancialHuman

Social

1

2

3

4

5Natural

Physical

FinancialHuman

Social

1

2

3

4

5Natural

Physical

FinancialHuman

Social

Sogod Igang Bariw

MisibisBusdacUson

• Social Capital

• Financial Capital

• Physical Capital

• Human Capital

• Natural Capital

Vulnerability Index

Weights

Provided by

Researchers

Weights Provided by Local

Communities

Pantabangan CarranglanP & C

Combined

A. Food 25 25 40 32.5

a.1 Seeds availability 12.5 20 15 17.5

a.1.1 Availability of

planting

materials

4.17 8 7 7.5

i. Available any time

of the year0 3 2 2.5

ii. Seasonal or hard to

find4.17 5 5 5

a.1.2 Is it affected

by CV and E?

4.17 9 5 7

i. Yes 4.17 9 4 6.5

ii. No 0 0 1 0.5

Multilevel Indicator of Vulnerability of Pantabangan–CarranglanWatershed Households to Climate Variability and Extremes Using

Varying Weights

Use of indicators from the three vulnerability components

Source: USAID 2014

Spatial Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments: A Review of Data, Methods, and Issues 20

exposure (left) the south to north gradient of temperature and precipitation (total and interannual

variation) is clearly evident. Sensitivity is more varied, showing pockets of high sensitivity in the northern

and northwestern areas of the country and in southeastern Mali (owing in part to high infant mortality

rates) and less sensitivity around Bamako (the capital) and in the west and the east. Adaptive capacity

declines with distance from Bamako and other urban centers, as well as from the Niger River. For the

PCs (bottom row), PC1 largely comprises climate indicators and those that are strongly influenced by climate, such as malaria and soil organic carbon, so it looks quite similar to the exposure component on

the row above. PC2 combines (in the order of their loadings) maternal education, household wealth,

health infrastructure, and the poverty index; hence it can be straightforwardly interpreted as a measure

of household social vulnerability. PC3 includes two indicators with positive loadings, child stunting and household wealth; and two with negative loadings, the decadal component of precipitation and malaria

stability. This component overwhelmingly is driven by child stunting and hence could be seen as a stand-

in for child wellbeing and malnutrition. Overall, the two approaches bring out different information that

is complementary and may help to understand spatial patterns of vulnerability that can be useful for

targeting interventions.

TABLE 1. INDICATORS UTILIZED BY COMPONENT OF VULNERABILITY

Component Indicator Code Data Layer

Exposure PRCP Average annual precipitation

IACV Inter-annual coefficient of variation in precipitation

DCVAR Percentage of precipitation variance explained by decadal component

NDVICV Coefficient of variation of normalized difference vegetation index

(NDVI) (1981–2006)

TTREND Long-term trend in temperature in Jul.-Aug.-Sept. (1950–2009)

FLOOD Flood frequency

Sensitivity HHWL Household wealth

STNT Child stunting

IMR Infant mortality rate

POVI Poverty index by commune

CONF Conflict data for political violence

CARB Soil organic carbon or soil quality

MALA Malaria stability index

Adaptive

Capacity

EDMO Education level of mother

MARK Market accessibility (travel time to major cities)

HEALTH Access to community health centers

ANTH Anthropogenic biomes

IRRI Irrigated areas (area equipped for irrigation)

In summary, comparing spatial index approaches to PCA, the PCA appears to be a useful exploratory

tool as it permits the developer to uncover spatial relationships between different components of vulnerability and to avoid biasing the results of a purely additive approach by the use of too many

components that share the same spatial patterns. It can also provide additional insight into the

vulnerability patterns and components. However, individual PCs, especially of higher order, are often

not easy to interpret. Moreover, Midgley (personal communication) argues in favor of the additive approach on a conceptual basis, in the sense that each indicator may contribute separately to overall

vulnerability. For example, while child malnutrition and poverty levels may co-vary across space, and

hence be collapsed into one PC, that does not mean that they don’t contribute separately to the ability

of people to cope with stressors.

Use of DPSIR Framework for assessing impacts per category or sector

Source: Climate Change Commission 2014

Use of Indicators

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Participatory Impact

Analysis

• Step 1: Identification of different impacts of climate variability and extremes to local communities

• Step 2: Identification of different groups affected by the impacts

• Step 3: Determination of degree of impacts to different groups

Participatory Impact Analysis: Identification of Different Impacts

Year Food

availability

Water Supply Crop Yield Heath

1976

typhoon

Products did not

reach the area

due to

transportation

problem

Excessive water

supply contribute d

to flooding

Palay and other

farm products were

rotten resulting to

significant decline

in crop yield

Increased

incidence of

malnourished

children

1982-83

El Niño

Insufficient food

supply caused by

scarcity of water

Deep wells run out

of water ; shortage

in irrigation water

Decreased crop

production

More cases of

sickness like

diarrhea and

fever

2002-03

Delayed

rainy

season

Same as above Same as above Same as above Same as above

Participatory Impact Analysis: Identification of Different Groups Affected and Degree of Impacts

Groups Impacts Degree of (-)

Impacts

Reason for the

Impacts

Better-off

farmers

↓ production &

income; ↔ food,

livelihood, health

Better coping

mechanism

“Little” farmers

↓ production, food,

livelihood, health;

more debt

Poor coping

mechanism – most

strategies failed

Employees

↑ price of

commodities

“Average” coping

mechanism

Business-

persons (small-

scale)

↓ in sales “Average” coping

mechanism

Participatory Impact Analysis: Impacts to and Vulnerability of Various Socio-economic Groups

Groups Impacts Degree of (-)

Impacts

Vulnerability

Better-off

farmers

↓ production &

income; ↔ food,

livelihood, health

Better coping

mechanism - low

vulnerability

“Little” farmers

↓ production, food,

livelihood, health;

more debt

Poor coping

mechanism – high

vulnerability

Employees

↑ price of

commodities

“Average” coping

mechanism –

moderately vul.

Business-

persons (small-

scale)

↓ in sales “Average” coping

mechanism –

moderately vul.

Participatory Approaches: Community Mapping of Vulnerable Places and People

TO SAN JOSE PROVINCIAL ROAD TO CONVERSION Pantabangan N.E.

SAN VICENTE

SAN FRANCISCO ST.

SAN JOAQUIN

SAN BALTAZAR ST.

G.S

. R

OS

AR

IO

MALBAN

G CREEK

F.C. OTIC

NORT

H

MUN. HALL RESIDENTIAL

RESIDENTIAL

RESIDENTIAL

RESIDENTIAL

RESIDENTIAL

EMPLOYEES

BETTER-OFF FARMERS

BUSINESSPERSONS

VULNERABLE AREAS

“SMALL” FARMERS

LEGEND :

Step 3. Assessing Future Climate RisksChange in Rainfall (top) and Temperature (bottom) in Albay, Philippines using SimCLIM

Baseline

Baseline

2100

2100

Top-Down Approach • Scenario- and

model-driven• Useful for assessing

future climate change impacts and large-scale vulnerabilities

Bottom-up Approach• Based on the

analysis of existing socio-economic conditions and livelihoods

• Suitable for addressing current vulnerabilities and adaptive capacity

A combination of bot top-down and bottom-up approaches should be used to plan for adaptation of predicted impacts

Source: UNFCCC 2011

• Global Climate Change Scenarios• Adaptation Scenarios

• Baseline climate• Baseline environmental conditions• Observed impacts• Baseline socio-economic conditions• Observed adaptive capacity

PREDICTED IMPACTS

Step 3

Step 2

ILOILO CITY Local Climate Change Action Plan 2014-2028

ILOILO CITY CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP

35

drought. The city’s lessons from past typhoons and flooding events have improved their risk reduction responses,

as seen in the foregoing measures that it has been pursuing. The maturing capacity for disaster risk response best

explains this score.

Drought and sea level rise, on the other hand, are remote events to the city, and are not perceived to be as

pressing as floods or typhoons. This explains the minimal actions and investments on these hazards.

By sector, infrastructure posted the highest level of adaptive capacity as seen in the focus on structural solutions

for water-related hazards. The social sector has the lowest level of adaptive capacity, owing to the short-term and

disaster-response paradigm adopted for its services. Further, its capacity heavily relies on the performance of

other sectors, which generally scored low to medium in many of the hazards identified.

Summary of Vulnerability by Sector and Climate-Related Hazard

Combining the scores from the

threat level and adaptive

capacity, the relative vulnerability

of the city of Iloilo by hazard is

6.42 out of 10. This can be traced

to the apparent concentration of

present efforts on disaster

response to flooding and

typhoons and less attention on

the other hazards, as informed by

experience. While the threat level

for these two hazards is the

highest, the strengthening of

response efforts does offset the threat to a certain level.

Of the hazards identified, given the minimal efforts to address its impacts, the city appears to be most vulnerable

to drought. While the threat level is low on this hazard, adaptive capacity was also low.

Of the five sectors, land use and

environment are the most

vulnerable to multi-hazards. Both

sectors posted the highest threat

level considering the magnitude

and nature of resources affected

and the inadequate actions to

address them beyond “business

as usual”. The economic sector

appears to be the least vulnerable

to hazards, mainly because this

sector is market driven and

private-sector led. This suggests a

higher autonomous capacity of actors in coping and recovering from temporary shocks and stresses.

ILOILO CITY Local Climate Change Action Plan 2014-2028

ILOILO CITY CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP

35

drought. The city’s lessons from past typhoons and flooding events have improved their risk reduction responses,

as seen in the foregoing measures that it has been pursuing. The maturing capacity for disaster risk response best

explains this score.

Drought and sea level rise, on the other hand, are remote events to the city, and are not perceived to be as

pressing as floods or typhoons. This explains the minimal actions and investments on these hazards.

By sector, infrastructure posted the highest level of adaptive capacity as seen in the focus on structural solutions

for water-related hazards. The social sector has the lowest level of adaptive capacity, owing to the short-term and

disaster-response paradigm adopted for its services. Further, its capacity heavily relies on the performance of

other sectors, which generally scored low to medium in many of the hazards identified.

Summary of Vulnerability by Sector and Climate-Related Hazard

Combining the scores from the

threat level and adaptive

capacity, the relative vulnerability

of the city of Iloilo by hazard is

6.42 out of 10. This can be traced

to the apparent concentration of

present efforts on disaster

response to flooding and

typhoons and less attention on

the other hazards, as informed by

experience. While the threat level

for these two hazards is the

highest, the strengthening of

response efforts does offset the threat to a certain level.

Of the hazards identified, given the minimal efforts to address its impacts, the city appears to be most vulnerable

to drought. While the threat level is low on this hazard, adaptive capacity was also low.

Of the five sectors, land use and

environment are the most

vulnerable to multi-hazards. Both

sectors posted the highest threat

level considering the magnitude

and nature of resources affected

and the inadequate actions to

address them beyond “business

as usual”. The economic sector

appears to be the least vulnerable

to hazards, mainly because this

sector is market driven and

private-sector led. This suggests a

higher autonomous capacity of actors in coping and recovering from temporary shocks and stresses.

Vulnerability Scores by Hazard and Sector

Source: Iloilo LCCAP 2014

Example of a Summarized Presentation of Vulnerability Assessment

Step 4. Formulating an Adaptation Strategy

Creation of a set of adaptation policy options and measures in response to current climate vulnerability and future climate risks

Selection of methods, tools and processes should be tailored to specific planning context

Use of community-based approaches for local level needs

Involves trade-off analysis for prioritization: valuation methods, cost-benefit analysis, benefit-cost ratio, cost-effective analysis, multi-criteria analysis

Characteristics of successful appraisal: practical, relevant, robust and comprehensive

Sources: UNEP/GEF 2004; UNFCCC 2011

Prioritized adaptation measures for health in San Vicente, Palawan

Source: Climate Change Commission 2014

Step 5. Continuing the Adaptation Process

Albay challenged the provincial government particularly the Provincial Agricultural Services to

be more aggressive in addressing the needs of one of the poorest of the poor groups in our

society – the farmers and fisher folks.

(d) Barangay Level Composting aims to reduce

the volume of garbage dumped at the land fill

and process the compost into organic fertilizer

thus reducing methane emissions from

agricultural lands.

(e) Palanog Cement Factory (Business Sector) is

practicing the substitution of fossil fuels by rice hull to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Reforestation activities such as 90 has mangrove plantation in Poliqui Bay, Manito, Albay in

partnership with PNOC-EDC and DENR.

First-ever Mayon Trail Run in partnership with Jaycees International Legazpi and The North

Face in celebration with the First Anniversary of the National Conference on Climate Change

Adaptation

(4) Institutional Initiatives

A) APSEMO- Disaster Management/Disaster Risk Reduction

B) CIRCA -Climate Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

The provincial government of Albay established the Center for Initiatives and Research on

Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) in 2008, a living research and training institution in collaboration

with the Environment Management Bureau (EMB), World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Bicol

University (BU) and the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB). Its goal is to

strengthen capacity for research and project and program implementation in sustainable

agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy and eco-cultural tourism in the light of climate change.

The main objective of CIRCA is to enhance the ability of Albay residents in particular and

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Albay challenged the provincial government particularly the Provincial Agricultural Services to

be more aggressive in addressing the needs of one of the poorest of the poor groups in our

society – the farmers and fisher folks.

(d) Barangay Level Composting aims to reduce the volume of garbage dumped at the land fill and process the compost into organic fertilizer thus reducing methane emissions from agricultural lands.

(e) Palanog Cement Factory (Business Sector) is

practicing the substitution of fossil fuels by rice hull to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Reforestation activities such as 90 has mangrove plantation in Poliqui Bay, Manito, Albay in

partnership with PNOC-EDC and DENR.

First-ever Mayon Trail Run in partnership with Jaycees International Legazpi and The North

Face in celebration with the First Anniversary of the National Conference on Climate Change

Adaptation

(4) Institutional Initiatives

A) APSEMO- Disaster Management/Disaster Risk Reduction

B) CIRCA -Climate Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

The provincial government of Albay established the Center for Initiatives and Research on

Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) in 2008, a living research and training institution in collaboration

with the Environment Management Bureau (EMB), World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Bicol

University (BU) and the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB). Its goal is to

strengthen capacity for research and project and program implementation in sustainable

agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy and eco-cultural tourism in the light of climate change.

The main objective of CIRCA is to enhance the ability of Albay residents in particular and

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• Involves monitoring, evaluating, modifying (if necessary) and sustaining the adaptation initiatives

Photo Sources: Lasco et al. and CIRCA, n.d.

Take Home Message

Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment is an important and critical step in adaptation planning

Selection of methods and tools depends on the purpose, scale and context of the study

Combination of different approaches, i.e., top-down and bottom-up; quantitative or qualitative, make the assessment more robust

The resulting assessment may still reflect a lot of uncertainties but this is not a hindrance for effective adaptation planning