Current Issues in Sustainability and Climate Risk Flashcards
Describe the acute and chronic impacts of climate change on individual well-being
I) Acute: impacts of natural disasters/extreme weather
- Psychological trauma/shock and 7-40% psychopathology after disaster
- PTSD
- Compounded stress
- Lower physical health due to stress
- Strains on social relationships
II) Chronic: from long-term changes in climate
- Aggression/violence due to warmer weather
- Mental health emergencies due to warmer weather
- Loss of personally important places
- Loss of autonomy and control
- Loss of personal and occupational identity
- Misc (helplessness, fear, fatalism, “solastalgia”, “ecoanxiety”)
Describe the acute and chronic impacts of climate change on community and society
- Decreased sense of cohesion
- Disrupted sense of continuity and belonging
- Increased interpersonal aggression (domestic abuse, crime)
- Increased intergroup aggression (political conflict, war)
What populations are especially vulneraable to adverse impacts of climate change?
- Population in risk-prone areas
- Occupational groups with direct exposure (e.g. farmers / fishermen)
- Indigenous communities
- Children and infants, elderly, women
- Disadvantaged communities /of colour
- People with disabilities, chronic illnesses
How can individuals build resilience against mental health impacts of climate change?
- Build belief in one’s own resilience.
- Foster optimism.
- Cultivate active coping and self-regulation.
- Find a source of personal meaning.
- Boost personal preparedness.
- Support social networks.
- Encourage connection to parents, family, and other role models.
- Uphold connection to place.
- Maintain connections to one’s culture.
How can communities build resilience against mental health impacts of climate change?
- Assess and expand the community mental health infrastructure.
- Facilitate social cohesion through community design.
- Train the people who will serve the community during a disaster.
- Provide clear and frequent information.
- Reduce disparities.
- Pay special attention to vulnerable populations.
- Develop trusted and action-focused warning systems.
- Provide a fast response.
- Post-disaster planning.
- Ensure equitable and transparent distribution of resources.
- Engage community members.
- Increase cooperation and social cohesion.
- Provide opportunities for meaningful action.
What concrete actions can individuals take to prepare for mental health impacts of climate change?
Actions at Home
• Have household emergency plans that are routinely practiced.
• Understand family medications and their side effects. • Learn resilience interventions.
Actions in the Community
• Connect with family, friends, neighbors, and other groups to build strong social networks.
• Support clean energy to prevent further climate change.
• Start a community resilience project.
What concrete actions can mental health professionals take to prepare for mental health impacts of climate change?
Link between mental health and climate:
• Become a climate-literate professional.
• Engage other mental health professionals to be more effective in inspiring action.
• Be vocal, to create support for climate solutions.
• Support national and international solutions by publicly sharing your expertise.
What are common challenges for major cities in building climate resilience?
- Coastal protection
- Resilient construction
- Water and waste management
- Energy resilience
- Transportation systems (bridges / tunnels / …)
- Communications
- Soft infrastructure (e.g. storm shelters)
What are the main sources of financing for urban adaptation to climate change?
- Public-sector financing
- Private-sector financing
- Public-private partnerships (PPP) and private finance initiatives (PFI)
- International financial institutions (e.g. World Bank)
- Insurance designed to reduce moral hazard
Define natural capital
Natural Capital := ‘the world’s stocks of natural assets, which include geology, soil, air, water and all living things.’
These assets provide numerous services critical to human well-being, such as climate regulation and food provision, but are becoming dangerously degraded by human activity.
Define natural capital assessment
Natural Capital Assessment := “is the process of valuing impacts and dependencies upon natural capital in order to better integrate natural capital into decision-making and so improve natural capital management.”
Natural capital assessments have been carried out at global and national scales, but have only comparatively recently attracted interest from private sector organisations. Natural capital assessment can be carried out using both quantitative and qualitative valuation methods; however, our primary interest is in businesses attempting to value natural capital in monetary terms.
Describe the four main stages of natural capital assessment
FSMA
1: “Frame” why the assessment should be carried out
2: “Scope” identifying objective, scope, impacts and dependencies
3: “Measure and Value”
4: “Apply” results and take action
Describe the framework for assessing the economic impacts of Arctic change
Root Cause: Arctic physical change
I) Economic opportunities
(regional/globally)
II) Direct regional impacts
(climate/ecosystems/communities)
III) Indirect global impacts
(arctic climate feedbacks / teleconnections)
IV) Secondary impacts through knock-on effects to economy
(commodity prices, trading patterns, economic sectors)
Assess how climate change-related beliefs are associated with perceptions of future risks
- Effect on belief in climate change is mostly temporary (3 to 5 years) after a flooding
- Community-scale damage strong predictor of belief change, individual damage is not
- Broadly “woke vs. not-woke” disconnect (young educated democratic women do believe in climate change)
- Belief in climate change only a marginal predictor of flood risk perception
Describe the 5 categories of maladaption to climate change
1: Increase GHG emissions
2: Burden most vulnerable disproportionately
(e. g. plan to put new green areas around New Orleans in areas where the poor & African-American lived)
3: Incur high opportunity costs
4: Reduce incentives to adapt
(e. g. crop insurance/building insurance in flood areas)
5: Set paths that limit choices for future generations (“all eggs in one basket”)
