Coastal systems, including the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), are subject to a slow-onset of climate-related stressors (climate change), such as warming, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, and discrete weather-related stressors (extreme weather events), such as tropical cyclones. These factors are exacerbated in addition to climate-variability, e.g., El Niño Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and the North Atlantic Oscillation. The impacts caused by these stressors include sea flooding, storm surges, inundation, loss of habitats, and coastal erosion, which affect both the human and natural systems, as well as socioeconomic sectors (e.g., ecosystems, fisheries, landscape, settlements, infrastructure, tourism, health and wellbeing, as well as people's livelihoods).
The coastal systems' resilience is usually enough to cope with the typical fluctuations of these stressors. However, under the current climate change trends and the unsustainable practices affecting the natural resilience, there is an increasing need to reduce the climate-related vulnerabilities and the exposure, and foster adaptive capacity and readiness to climate change. Panning the response against extreme weather events has never been more urgent.
As a consequence of the climate stressors and their negative impacts on the coastal systems (including SIDS), the civil society - from neighbours to national governments - and the international organisations, must improve the current and near-future climate adaptation and preparedness. We must foster the assessment of:
I) Vulnerability and resilience that integrate the climatic, social and environmental determinants.
II) The diverse geographical, climatic, cultural and political factors involved in the exposure to current and near-future expected climate stressors.
III) Climatic risks focused on a risk-management approach (including vulnerabilities, stakeholders, future scenarios, thresholds, cost-benefit analysis, acceptability, and the risk-acceptance of the observed and potential impacts)
Focusing on the current and near-future climate risk and adaptation elements does not mean neglecting greenhouse emission mitigation; actually, co- and multiple benefit actions are essential to achieving the recommended actions' social and political acceptability, and national-level and international agencies' support.
This Research Topic focuses on the assessment and critical review of planned and implemented climate vulnerability and adaptation and risk-management programmes in coastal systems. We would like to draw authors from all regions, including the SIDS. We would also like to achieve a reasonable balance between established and emerging researchers working in these areas. The specific themes are as follows:
• Updated methods for assessing climate vulnerability or the exposure.
• Critical reviews of classical vulnerability and the resilience assessments and indicators.
• Critical reviews of past failures, successes, and learning in climate adaptation programmes.
• Follow-up and monitoring of the implemented adaptation actions and policies.
• A planned and implemented climate risk-management projects.
• Integration of the climate scenarios and scenario planning in climate-risks assessment and management.
Coastal systems, including the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), are subject to a slow-onset of climate-related stressors (climate change), such as warming, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, and discrete weather-related stressors (extreme weather events), such as tropical cyclones. These factors are exacerbated in addition to climate-variability, e.g., El Niño Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and the North Atlantic Oscillation. The impacts caused by these stressors include sea flooding, storm surges, inundation, loss of habitats, and coastal erosion, which affect both the human and natural systems, as well as socioeconomic sectors (e.g., ecosystems, fisheries, landscape, settlements, infrastructure, tourism, health and wellbeing, as well as people's livelihoods).
The coastal systems' resilience is usually enough to cope with the typical fluctuations of these stressors. However, under the current climate change trends and the unsustainable practices affecting the natural resilience, there is an increasing need to reduce the climate-related vulnerabilities and the exposure, and foster adaptive capacity and readiness to climate change. Panning the response against extreme weather events has never been more urgent.
As a consequence of the climate stressors and their negative impacts on the coastal systems (including SIDS), the civil society - from neighbours to national governments - and the international organisations, must improve the current and near-future climate adaptation and preparedness. We must foster the assessment of:
I) Vulnerability and resilience that integrate the climatic, social and environmental determinants.
II) The diverse geographical, climatic, cultural and political factors involved in the exposure to current and near-future expected climate stressors.
III) Climatic risks focused on a risk-management approach (including vulnerabilities, stakeholders, future scenarios, thresholds, cost-benefit analysis, acceptability, and the risk-acceptance of the observed and potential impacts)
Focusing on the current and near-future climate risk and adaptation elements does not mean neglecting greenhouse emission mitigation; actually, co- and multiple benefit actions are essential to achieving the recommended actions' social and political acceptability, and national-level and international agencies' support.
This Research Topic focuses on the assessment and critical review of planned and implemented climate vulnerability and adaptation and risk-management programmes in coastal systems. We would like to draw authors from all regions, including the SIDS. We would also like to achieve a reasonable balance between established and emerging researchers working in these areas. The specific themes are as follows:
• Updated methods for assessing climate vulnerability or the exposure.
• Critical reviews of classical vulnerability and the resilience assessments and indicators.
• Critical reviews of past failures, successes, and learning in climate adaptation programmes.
• Follow-up and monitoring of the implemented adaptation actions and policies.
• A planned and implemented climate risk-management projects.
• Integration of the climate scenarios and scenario planning in climate-risks assessment and management.
