January 2008, id21 insights, Issue #71

Climate change and cities

International negotiations have failed to achieve consensus on climate change mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions). The longer it takes to reach and implement global agreements on reducing emissions, the more adaptation will be needed for expected climate change, and the greater the number of cities (and other areas) for which protection will be impossible or too expensive.

A crowded boat crossing a flooded road in Semra, East Champaran, in Bihar, India, during the 2007 floods. Millions were affected by severe flash flooding following particularly heavy monsoon rains across South Asia. Over 12 million residents were been displaced in India alone and many people were killed. Jacob Silberberg / Panos Pictures, 2007. See Climate change and cities.

Other articles in this issue:

Adapting to climate change

Adapting to climate change means adapting to risks from observed or expected changes. Governments, enterprises and households will all have to adapt.

Urban adaptation in Latin America

Climate change will add to existing risks and stresses from extreme weather in Latin America. The number of weather-related disasters more than doubled between 1970 and 2005. This included two intense episodes of El Niño, which, together with land use changes, resulted in floods, droughts, landslides and other disasters. Many deaths resulted and the population, infrastructure and economic activities of both urban and rural areas were affected.

Floods in Dhaka

Dhaka has over ten million inhabitants and has been central to Bangladesh's economic success in recent years. The city is already very vulnerable to flooding, especially during the monsoon season, as shown by five major floods since 1980. The 1988, 1998 and 2004 floods were particularly severe and brought large economic losses.

Adaptation for India's cities

India's population is among the most vulnerable in the world to natural hazards, including storms, floods, droughts, earthquakes and landslides. India also has the world's largest rural population and second largest urban population.

Case study

Durban adapts to climate change

Durban established an Environmental Management Department in 1994. Initially, the department examined how the municipality's strong developmental approach could incorporate environmental concerns.

The international agenda

Within the science community, there is now broad consensus on the reality of human-induced climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes, in its Fourth Assessment, that it is 90 to 99 percent likely that the rise in global atmospheric temperature since the mid 19th Century has been caused by human activity.

Cities vulnerable to sea level rise

Estimates for expected sea level rise up to the end of the 21st Century vary from 18 to 59 centimetres. Any such rise would certainly increase the number of people flooded by storm surges, especially in cities already vulnerable.

Unfairness in the causes and risks of climate change

Most people facing the highest risks from climate change are not those who are most responsible for causing it.

Useful web links

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