RAI 2016 Conference

By focusing on various actors' engagement with dynamic weather forces and infrastructures, this panel considers the political ecology of infrastructures as constituted in issues regarding climate change.

Journal of AIR POWER AND SPACE STUDIES, 2011

2012

Abstract This paper presents the results of the current study on the impact of climate change on the road and building infrastructure within South Africa. The approach builds upon previous work associated with the UNU-WIDER Development under Climate Change effort emphasizing the impact of climate change on roads. The paper illustrates how climate change effects on both road and building structures can be evaluated with the application of a new analysis system—the infrastructure planning support system.

Regional Environmental Change, 2014

Infrastructures are critical for human society, but vulnerable to climate change. The current body of research on infrastructure adaptation does not adequately account for the interconnectedness of infrastructures, both internally and with one another. We take a step toward addressing this gap through the introduction of a framework for infrastructure adaptation that conceptualizes infrastructures as complex socio-technical ''systems of systems'' embedded in a changing natural environment. We demonstrate the use of this framework by structuring potential climate change impacts and identifying adaptation options for a preliminary set of cases-road, electricity and drinking water infrastructures. By helping to clarify the relationships between impacts at different levels, we find that the framework facilitates the identification of key nodes in the web of possible impacts and helps in the identification of particularly nocuous weather conditions. We also explore how the framework may be applied more comprehensively to facilitate adaptation governance. We suggest that it may help to ensure that the mental models of stakeholders and the quantitative models of researchers incorporate the essential aspects of interacting climate and infrastructure systems. Further research is necessary to test the framework in these contexts and to determine when and where its application may be most beneficial.

Designing and improving physical infrastructure to accommodate the outcomes of climate change and mitigate disasters can only be effective to a certain extent. The need to protect people physically can be achieved to a greater extent with the integration of social infrastructure. Developing the built environment with this notion of social infrastructure forms a safe social space for social connection and community engagement, resulting in a cohesive community that can combat disasters more effectively. As neighbours are the first responders during a crisis, the inhabited environment warrants a need for a strong social network. Having open and accessible public spaces, such as human scaled sidewalks, encourages this connection and congregation of communities. The welfare of the community is also then improved when the built environment considers the social processes that it can accommodate. As evident in the boat project by an NGO in Bangladesh, community support especially for a time where climate change is strongly felt is crucial in sustaining proper livelihood. The presence of the boats, even as mobile as they are, generates hope for the communities' future in combatting these issues. Self-enforcement from the people in this system, formed by the horizontal relationship encouraged by the physical environment is an intuitive determination to recover back what was lost from their everyday life. Hence, architecture has the potential to aid these social processes; communicating certain emotions and representing the strength of the physical environment that communities are engaged for greater cohesion and resilience.

About US$90 trillion in infrastructure investment is needed globally by 2030 to achieve global growth expectations, particularly in developing countries. To achieve this, infrastructure investment needs to be both scaled up, and, due to climate risk, integrate climate objectives. Infrastructure investment has become a core focus of international economic cooperation through the G20 and also for established and new development finance institutions. Integrating climate objectives into infrastructure decisions will increase resilience to climate change impacts1, avoid locking in carbon-intensive and polluting investments, and bring multiple additional benefits, such as cleaner air and lower traffic congestion. Shifting to low-carbon infrastructure could add as little as 5% to upfront investment costs in 2015-2030. These costs could be offset by resulting energy and fuel savings. A number of institutions have already started integrating climate risk into their investment decisions, but this needs to be done in a far more systematic way, making best practices the norm. For example, several international institutions are working to halt unabated coal project financing, but this effort will need to extend to national development banks and newer multilateral development banks (MDBs). International finance will also have to be significantly scaled up to deliver the US$90 trillion. This includes increasing capitalisation of both national and multilateral development banks. The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate rec- ommends that G20 and other countries adopt key princi- ples ensuring the integration of climate risk and climate objectives in national infrastructure policies and plans. These principles should be included in the G20 Global Infra- structure Initiative, as well as used to guide the investment strategies of public and private finance institutions, particular- ly multilateral and national development banks. Governments, development banks and the private sector should cooperate to share experience and best practice in mainstreaming climate into infrastructure policies, plans and projects.

Policy Papers, 2021

IMF staff regularly produces papers proposing new IMF policies, exploring options for reform, or reviewing existing IMF policies and operations. The following documents have been released and are included in this package: • The Staff Report, prepared by IMF staff and completed on December 3, 2021 for the Executive Board's consideration on December 9, 2021. The IMF's transparency policy allows for the deletion of market-sensitive information and premature disclosure of the authorities' policy intentions in published staff reports and other documents.

Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, 2018

Extreme weather causes substantial adverse socio-economic impacts by damaging and disrupting the infrastructure services that underpin modern society. Globally, $2.5tn a year is spent on infrastructure which is typically designed to last decades, over which period projected changes in the climate will modify infrastructure performance. A systems approach has been developed to assess risks across all infrastructure sectors to guide national policy making and adaptation investment. The method analyses diverse evidence of climate risks and adaptation actions, to assess the urgency and extent of adaptation required. Application to the UK shows that despite recent adaptation efforts, risks to infrastructure outweigh opportunities. Flooding is the greatest risk to all infrastructure sectors: even if the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 2°C is achieved, the number of users reliant on electricity infrastructure at risk of flooding would double, while a 4°C rise could triple UK flo...

Politics and Governance, 2021

Addressing climate change globally requires significant transformations of production and consumption systems. The language around climate action has shifted tangibly over the last five years to reflect this. Indeed, thousands of local governments, national governments, universities and scientists have declared a climate emergency. Some commentators argue that the emergency framing conveys a new and more appropriate level of urgency needed to respond to climate challenges; to create a social tipping point in the fight against climate change. Others are concerned to move on from such emergency rhetoric to urgent action. Beyond emergency declarations, new spaces of, and places for, engagement with climate change are emerging. The public square, the exhibition hall, the law courts, and the investors’ forum are just some of the arenas where climate change politics are now being negotiated. Emergent governing mechanisms are being utilised, from citizens’ assemblies to ecocide lawsuits. N...

Issues in Science and Technology, 2018