Ebook: The Palgrave Handbook of Climate Resilient Societies

The effects of climate change are beginning to be felt around the world with rising temperatures, changing precipitation levels, more frequent and severe storms and longer more intensive droughts threatening human life and livelihoods and damaging property and infrastructure. As such, society in all countries – both developing and developed – need to increase their resilience to the impacts of climate change, where resilience is the ability of a system to absorb stresses and adapt in ways that improve the overall sustainability of the system; enabling it to be better prepared for future climate change impacts.


In this context, a climate resilient society is one that is: reflective (learns from experiences); robust (both people and infrastructure can withstand the impacts of extreme conditions); forward-thinking (with plans made to ensure systems function during extreme events); flexible (so systems and plans can change, evolve or adopt alternative strategies); resourceful (to respond quickly to extreme events); inclusive (so all communities including the vulnerable are involved in planning); and integrated (so people, systems, decision-making and investments are mutually supportive of common goals).


The Climate Resilient Societies Major Reference Work includes chapters covering a range of themes that provide readers with an invaluable overview on how various levels of government have attempted to create climate resilient societies. In particular, each chapter, under its respective theme, will address how a government, or series of governments, at various levels in non-OECD and/or OECD countries, have implemented innovative climate resilient policies that seek synergies across strategies, choices and actions, in an attempt to build a climate resilient society. Each chapter will address one specific sub-theme out of the population of themes covered in the Major Reference Work: Water, Energy, Agriculture and Food Built environment and Infrastructure, Transport, Human health, Society, and Disaster.




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WaterClimate change is projected to decrease the availability of renewable surface water and groundwater resources significantly, intensifying competition for water resources among users. With extreme weather events (floods and droughts), climate change is projected to reduce the availability of good quality water and pose threats to human health. Examples of specific impacts of climate change on water resources include lower surface water levels, groundwater depletion, higher water temperatures leading to additional or new treatment processes for drinking water, increasing pollutant concentrations threatening groundwater supplies, increased stormwater runoff resulting in increased loads of pathogens in waterways, and sea level rises increasing the salinity of coastal aquifers.
1. Smart water policies to achieve urban water security: This chapter will discuss the various demand management tools available to modify the attitudes and behaviour of water users to balance rising demand with limited, and often variable, supplies.


2. Developing alternative supplies: Reuse and recycling of water: This chapter will provide an overview of alternative water supply solutions that have been implemented in a variety of locations to enhance resilience to climate change and reduce reliance on more distant water sources.


3. Water governance and agriculture production: This chapter will explore the various water governance policies and strategies available to reduce inter-sectoral competition in a changing climate.


4. Green infrastructure and climate resilience: This chapter will provide a global overview of leading cities that have implemented green infrastructure to enhance resilience to climate change while benefiting from multiple co-benefits.