Operationalising and responding to the uncertainty of climate change — YRD
  1. Schedule
  2. Risk and Uncertainty (Oral Presentation)
  3. Operationalising and responding to the uncertainty of climate change

Operationalising and responding to the uncertainty of climate change (2733)

Fiona Silke 1 , Ali McArthur 1 , Burke Renouf 2 , Hartmut Funfgeld 3
  1. Loop and Co, Footscray, VICTORIA, Australia
  2. Environment unit, City of Greater Geelong, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
  3. School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Communicating and acknowledging the uncertainty of climate change, while also engendering action is a balancing act. There are many academic articles out there that eloquently outline a process for responding to climate change while acknowledging uncertainty (Hallegate and Dumas n.d., Stafford Smith et al 2011, Jones et al 2013 and Fünfgeld 2012). However, most of these articles are useful, but dense, and can be difficult for council staff to interpret and operationalise.

This paper outlines the training approach developed between City of Greater Geelong and Loop and Co, which acknowledges the uncertainty, but is simplified for the application in local government decision making.

The key to understanding how to respond to climate change and its uncertainty is to understand and acknowledge:

  1. A decision’s objectives
  2. The investment time frame of the decision
  3. Ease by which direction of the decision is changed.

These three considerations, provide staff vital direction on how climate change should be considered within their decision. The paper outlines the characteristics of decisions, their relationship to climate change, and case studies outlining the usefulness of the process.

  1. Stafford Smith, M. Horrocks, L. Harvey, A. and Hamilton, C. 2011, Rethinking adaptation for a 4°C world, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 369, 1934, 196–216
  2. Jones, R. Young, C. Handmer, J. Keating, A. Mekala, G. and Sheehan, P. 2013, Valuing adaptation under rapid change, NCCARF accessed at: https://www.nccarf.edu.au/sites/default/files/attached_files_publications/Jones_2013_Valuing_adaptation_under_rapid_change.pdf
  3. Hallegate, S. and Dumas, P. n.d. Adaptation to climte change: Soft versus hard adaptation, OECD accessed at: http://www.oecd.org/env/cc/40899422.pdf
  4. Fünfgeld, H. 2012, Local climate change adaptation planning: a guide for government policy and decision makers in Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research (VCCCAR).