Climate Change in Coastal Cities: From Vulnerability to Transformative Adaptation

People living in coastal cities around the world face great risks from the impacts of climate change. In the developing world, these often combine with the challenges of urban development and overcoming poverty and sharp inequalities into a particularly difficult set of tasks for local policy makers. While they often focus on large infrastructural measures and coastal defenses, integrated and inclusive solutions that tackle not only people’s exposure to hazards, but also social vulnerabilities and their root causes, are also needed.

“Transformative adaptation” can be understood as change that can overcome inequalities and root causes of vulnerability. The speakers at this seminar introduce this concept, and then assess its potential to inform policy making for urban climate resilience and social development in coastal cities with a particular focus on Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta.

Moderator

• Dunja Krause, Research Officer, UNRISD

Opening remarks

• Uwe Petry, Head of the Economic Affairs Division, Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany in Geneva

Speakers

• David Dodman, Director, Human Settlements, International Institute for Environment and Development
• Isabelle Anguelovski, Director, Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability and ICREA Research Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona
• Ho Long Phi, Member of the Viet Nam National Advisory Council for Climate Change
• Tri Mulyani Sunarharum, Program Manager at Resilient Jakarta Secretariat (100 Resilient Cities)

Sandwiches and light refreshments will be served after the event.

This seminar is complemented by an Expert Group Meeting bringing together researchers and experts based in Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta and international specialists based in Europe for in-depth discussions, network building and follow-up collaboration.

UNRISD gratefully acknowledges funding for this event from the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.