Kiribati-a low-lying, resource-poor Pacific atoll nation-is one of the most vulnerable countries in the World to the impacts of climate change, including the likely detrimental effects on human health. We describe the preparation of a climate change and health adaptation plan for Kiribati carried out by the World Health Organization and the Kiribati Ministry of Health and Medical Services, incl...

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE | VOL 2 | JULY 2012 | www.nature.com/natureclimatechange As Earth’s climate continues to change at an unprecedented rate1, people face mounting impacts. Ongoing research since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 assessment report underscores the urgent need for rapid progress on national and global adaptation efforts2. From sea-level rise to heightened hur...

Communities are increasingly confronted with the need to identify, characterize and respond to the global challenges of climate change. Risk management is a well established tool for climate change adaptation, but critical questions about past management techniques and the emergence of ‘alternative approaches’ raise possibilities for novel new directions. This paper conceptually explores the sy...

Global climate change is felt disproportionately in the world's most economically disadvantaged countries. As adaption to an evolving climate becomes increasingly salient on national and global scales, it is important to assess how people at the local-level are already coping with changes. Understanding local responses to climate change is essential for helping countries to construct strategies...

Climate change is likely to exert escalating stresses on urban environments over the coming decades (Garnaut, 2008; IPCC, 2007; Stern, 2006). Urban settlements in Australia will be subject to significant vulnerability (Hennessy et al, 2007). This will prompt responses from institutional governance frameworks in Australian cities and metropolitan areas. Efforts to manage climate change effects i...

The policy debate on climate change distinguishes two generic response options. The first (and more prominent) option is mitigation. Mitigation addresses the causes of climate change by reducing the emission of harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs). The second response is adaptation. Adaptation deals with the consequences of climate change and seeks to reduce the vulnerability of human and natural sy...

As growing attention is paid to climate change adaptation as an actual policy issue, the significant meaning of climate variability in adaptation decisions is beginning to be recognized. By using a real option framework, we shed light on how climate change and climate variability affect individuals’ (farmers’) investment decisions with regard to adaptation. As a plausible case in which the dela...