Author: Economics of Climate Adaptation (ECA)
Year of publication: 2009
Available languages: English
Type of assessment: Comprehensive impact and risk assessment
Details: Framework provides tools to quantify a location's "total climate risk" and uses a cost-benefit analysis
Format of assessment: Guideline
Estimated costs for conducting: No information
Estimated duration of assessment: 12-16 weeks
To be carried out by whom: Consultants (climate experts)
Institutional scale of use: National
Details: Global, national, local, regional or sectoral. This framework is flexible and can be applied on different institutional levels.
Assesment to be used by which target audience: Multiple actors
Details: National, regional and local decision makers
Output: Report
Details: The end product is a cost-benefit analysis comparing the selected adaptation measures (CBA) - all of this will be summarised in a paper
Region of origin: Europe
Developed by which sector: Private sector
Applied in practice: Yes
Geographic coverage in analysis: Worldwide
Potential geographic coverage: Worldwide
Details: Can be applied to any sector to compare impacts
Method used: Index development
Description of methodology: Several steps approach aiming at identification of risk, the magnitude of expected loss and potential response measures. Each step contains several sub-steps, including data collection, consultation of scientific communities, future scenarios, value distribution of assets and cost-benefit calculation of measures. The method focuses on the most severe hazard in a country
Risk framework used: No explicit use of risk framework
Risk components incorporated: All
Hazards and impacts considered in the assessment: Cyclone (including tropical storm, hurricane and typhoon), Flood, Storm
Details: Can be applied to all hazards
Details: Physical hazard models, IPCC projections, asset and income census date, vulnerability of infrastructure data, weather data/ projections etc.; all relevant climate change data, historical and current to create a ranking of risks, including quantifying and assigning "price tags" to specific risks. Scenario planning to prioritise climate adaptation and resilience measures
Participatory elements: Partly
Details: It does not need to be participatory, but data can also partially be generated via interviews; No explicit involvement of local communities, but the comprehensive inventory of localized adaptation measures are developed with local and international experts from climate and development fields. Stakeholders are interviewed for prioritization of measures
Consideration of interconnectedness and -dependencies of risks: Yes
Details: Analyses a plethora of risks and factors them all into the risk assessment
Adressing uncertainty: Yes
Details: It is pointed out that deterministic models may not produce outcomes that reflect all uncertainties of future climate risks. In three cases, the models included stochastic elements to account for this
Scope of assessment: Identification of risks, assessment of impacts, identification of adaptation options, priorization of adaptation options
Details: Aim is to identitfy risk, analyse adaptation measures and create a cost-benefit curve for all measures
Economic/Non-Economic losses incorporated: Both
Details: Strong focus on economic loss, which is incorporated through cost-benefit analysis of adaptation options. Non-economic loss is only mentioned but not explicitly focussed on
Applicability for entire risk spectrum (from extreme weather events to slow onset processes): Yes
Details: The focus is on the most severe hazard but it can be applied to various phenomena
Recommendations for Adaptation measures included in Climate Risk Assessment: Yes
Details: Aims at creating a cost-benefit curve for all measures
Usefulness for political purposes: It is useful to inform political decision making, still it needs to be carried out by experts/ scientists / NAPAs
Applied by whom: ECA Working Group
Open access: Yes