PROJECT #2000-09
APN/SURVAS/LOICZ Joint Conference on Coastal Impacts of Climate
Change and Adaptation
| Project Leader |
Prof. Nobuo MIMURA
Center for Water Environment Studies
Ibaraki University
4-12-1 Nakanarusawa
Hitachi, Ibaraki 316-8511
JAPAN
Tel: +81-294-38-5169
Fax: +81-294-38-5268
Email: mimura@hcs.ibaraki.ac.jp
|
| Funding |
US $75,000
|
| Participating countries |
Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Federated States
of Micronesia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nauru, the
Philippines, Samoa, Thailand, the UK, USA, Vanuatu, Vietnam
|
Introduction/Background
APN/SURVAS/LOICZ Joint Conference on Coastal Impacts of Climate Change
and Adaptation in the Asia-Pacific Region was held on 14-16 November 2000,
at the APN Centre in Kobe, Japan, under the auspices of the APN, the Organizing
Committee of the Conference, and the Science Council of Japan. The Asia
and Pacific region has been recognized as a focus of the impacts of climate
change and sea-level rise. However, the linkage between global climate
change and societal impacts, and the feasibility of adaptation are poorly
understood. It is also questioned how the present environmental problems
and development practices are related to future threats. To answer such
questions, the conference aimed at bringing relevant researchers and policy-makers
in this field to develop a comprehensive understanding on the present knowledge
of the national and regional vulnerability and possible adaptation strategies.
More than 60 participants attended the conference from 20 countries and
5 international organizations.
Outline of activities conducted
The conference consisted of three different themes.
The first one was synthesis of the coastal impacts of climate change
and sea-level rise. Country representatives presented summaries of the
assessment studies on the possible impacts and vulnerability of individual
countries. Many countries in the region revealed to be significantly vulnerable
to sea-level rise and changes in cyclones and storm surges. Large cities
in the low-lying coastal plains, such as Shanghai, Bangkok, Jakarta, Tokyo,
Osaka will face future threats of inundation and flooding. Adverse effects
of coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion on the land use, agriculture,
and water resources are another problems for the deltaic areas. Small islands
in the South Pacific are threatened by all these factors. Though the stage
of the vulnerability study differs from country to country, and therefore
systematic and comprehensive studies are still needed to fully identify
the vulnerable areas and sectors in each country.
The second theme was the present status and results of the IGBP/LOICZ
studies. In this session, 23 presentations were made, including 15 poster
presentations. Subjects presented include the biogeomorphological effects
of global warming, the Bay of Thailand Project, SEAWATCH Project in Indonesia,
long-term sea level change during the Holocene in the Philippines, global
mapping, salt water intrusion into rivers, and modelling of coastal erosion.
A wide range of presentations stimulated discussions among different disciplines.
The third theme was vulnerability and adaptation overview. Discussions
in a plenary session pointed out the importance to perform accurate and
comprehensive vulnerability assessment to set a firm basis for the adaptation
planning. It was also emphasized that development of the integrated coastal
management plan was important as a measure for the adaptation. International
network and mutual exchange of information were recognized to be essential,
and some countries like Japan were requested to take initiatives to develop
and maintain such activities.
On the next day of the Joint Conference, 17 November, an open symposium
for the public was held to introduce the results of the conference and
the latest knowledge on global warming and climate change. Policy-makers,
researchers, and the general public attended the symposium. Foreign participants
pointed out the importance of such open symposiums that follow conferences,
as they raise the profile of the issue amongst the local community.
Outcomes/Products
Proceedings of the Joint Conference, which includes papers presented
in the conference, will be published. Synthesis and Upscaling of Sea-Level
Rise Vulnerability Assessment Studies (SURVAS) was proposed to synthesize
and aggregate national vulnerability assessments and other pertinent studies
through networking and workshop activities in Europe, Africa, the Americas,
Asia and the Pacific. It also plans to organize the Global Synthesis Workshop
of SURVAS to summarize the results of these conferences and workshops.
The results of the present Joint Conference and its proceedings will be
submitted to the Global Synthesis Workshop to contribute to drawing a global
picture of the impacts of climate change and sea-level rise.
Future directions/Follow-up work
The regional and global synthesis achieved in this project is an important
step to understand the vulnerability to climate change and sea-level rise.
As a next step, more site-specific analysis of vulnerability is needed
to develop the response strategies to future threats, i.e. adaptation to
global warming. To this end, mutual exchange of experience and results
of such advanced vulnerability analysis through a network established by
this project and SURVAS is a necessary future direction. This workshop
also revealed that the stage of the vulnerability assessment is different
among the countries in the region. Therefore, development of technical
methods and its guidelines for the vulnerability and adaptation studies
is another important task to help less advanced groups of countries.
|
