CALS 503

February 18, 2022

As shared in a previous post, I called Scotland my home for a year. My experiences in that country had a large impact on my journey as a climate leader. So, I decided to continue that learning journey by analyzing a climate risk assessment from the City of Edinburgh for assignment 2 for the CALS503 course.

In response to the 2009 Scottish Climate Change Act, Edinburgh City Council began adaptation planning to understand how climate change will impact city operations. The first step of this process was to conduct a risk assessment which was summarized in a report called Resilient Edinburgh: Climate Change Adaptation Framework for Edinburgh 2014-2020. Three universities and nine non-profit organizations were involved in the risk assessment, although their exact role in the process is unclear.

The City of Edinburgh used data from the UK Climate Projections 2009 to develop impact statements, which were supplemented with recent weather data and qualitative media records of city service disruptions. This was followed by a quantitative risk assessment. It appears a separate vulnerability assessment was not conducted; rather a loose vulnerability lens was applied to the impacts assessment. Generally, the report is light on details when it comes to the methodology.

One of my main critiques of the report is this lack of transparency, both in how a vulnerability lens was applied and who was involved in the process. The role of partners was unclear, which could affect buy-in from other stakeholders later in the process. Additionally, without a clear vulnerability assessment, it is difficult to understand the existing adaptive capacity of service areas and its “ability to respond” (Otto et al., 2017, p. 1652). Without understanding the limitations and strengths of the systems in place now, predicting future risk is more difficult (Jackson & Brown, 2022).

Despite these critiques, there are things the City of Edinburgh did well (especially for a report written eight years ago). The report is concise and easy to follow. The creative mix of qualitative and quantitative data for the impact assessment makes it replicable. Most of all: the assessment laid the groundwork for further adaptation planning, which is the whole point of the process (Smit & Wandel, 2006). In 2016, the Edinburgh Adapts: Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan 2016-2020 was published based on the results of the initial risk assessment. Two progress reports have since been published, which show encouraging signs of clearer stakeholder engagement.

What I found most insightful about the City of Edinburgh’s work is the relationship they have built with the Royal Botanic Garden (RBG) around climate: a representative from RFB chairs the Edinburgh Adapts Steering Group (Edinburgh Council, 2016). The RBG is a charity with a mission to “explore, conserve and explain the world of plants for a better future” (RBG, 2022, para. 1). By partnering with a trusted and community-embedded organization, I think this lends more credence to the Council’s work. The RBG can communicate the connections between climate change, biodiversity, and wellness to a broad audience of citizens and tourists.

This is a reminder to be intentional and creative when fostering partnerships as part of adaptation planning. As Dupar et al. (2019) emphasize, effective communications relies on trusted communicators. For more of my reflections on trusted communicators, please see my post Sustainability Talk.

References

Dupar, M., McNamara, L., & Pacha, M. (2019). Communicating climate change: A practitioner’s guide. Cape Town: Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Communicating%20climate%20change_Insights%20from%20CDKNs%20experience.pdf

Edinburgh City Council. (2014). Resilient Edinburgh: Climate Change Adaptation Framework for Edinburgh 2014-2020. https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/24709/resilient-edinburgh-evidence-base-and-risk-analysis

Edinburgh City Council. (2016). Edinburgh Adapts Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan 2016-2020. https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/24704/edinburgh-adapts-climate-change-action-plan-2016-to-2020

Jackson, E., & Brown, C. (2022, January 21). CALS 503 guest speaker Ewa Jackson [Lecture recording]. Royal Roads University.

Otto, I.M., Reckien, D., Reyer, C.P.O., Marcus, R., Le Masson, V., Jones, L., Norton, A., & Serdeczny, O. (2017). Social vulnerability to climate change: a review of concepts and evidence. Regional Environmental Change 17, 1651-1662. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1105-9

Royal Botanic Garden. (2022). What We Do. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. https://www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/

Smit, B., & Wandel, J. (2006). Adaptation, adaptive capacity and vulnerability. Global Environmental Change 16(3), 282-292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.03.008