The authors conduct a thorough literature review and present the results of 38 expert interviews to make recommendations and to propose quality criteria for the development

of cross-sectoral and multi-scale approaches; the development of coherent norms and assessment tools; and, for the improvement of information and to expand the knowledge base. Finally, Birkmann and von Teichman show how CCA concepts can be incorporated concretely into the various phases of the disaster cycle. Rural farmers are very well aware that variations in climate directly affect their livelihoods; but Birkmann and co-authors see more remind us that it is in the cities of the world—many of them located in low-lying coastal areas with informal settlements—that we find constraints to adaptation. Yet the consideration of CCA strategies in urban areas lags far behind the actions that are taking place or being envisaged in rural areas. This is so despite the fact that urban centres are where populations and critical infrastructure are concentrated, and that they play major economic roles at the national level. The authors appraise the CCA strategies of nine cities worldwide and combine this approach with more empirical research in two cities in Vietnam where they derive key questions for a more in-depth analysis. The need to link adaptation strategies over time and space are again visible

selleckchem in the detailed analyses of Ho Chi Min and Can Tho cities. The paper builds on the knowledge presented by Birkmann and von Teichman and provides new directions for adaptive urban governance. More than extreme weather events, sea-level rise is the largest concern for small island nations in the decades to come. This threat was the impetus for a collective negotiating strategy at COP 15 in Copenhagen in December by small island developing states for adaptation assistance. McLeod and co-authors used the dynamic interactive vulnerability assessment (DIVA) model to estimate the effects of sea level-rise in the countries of the Coral Triangle, and to assess the expected coastal changes in

terms of impacts on ecological, social and economic systems. Results show significant, if inconsistent, impacts. Dipeptidyl peptidase Within the 2100 time horizon, Indonesia could see 5.9 million people affected by flooding, and the Philippines may see the highest economic impacts at US $6.5 billion per year when no adaptation initiatives are taken. The largest ecological impacts would occur in the numerous coastal wetland areas in the region. Model simulations demonstrate that consideration of adaptation www.selleckchem.com/products/MDV3100.html measures drastically reduced the negative impacts of sea-level rise. The authors provide useful suggestions to improve the reliability of modelling in the future, thus meeting some of the concerns highlighted by Romieu and co-authors in the first paper.