The importance of integrating local perspectives into international debates about climate change has received increasing attention. Local perspectives on the impacts of climate change often focus on issues of loss and harm and support the widely recognized need for global responses to climate change as suggested by scientists and international institutions.Here we argue that local perspectives need to be addressed not only from outside communities but also from inside in order to understand people's responses to climate change: their concerns, their understanding of themselves as members of particular groups and their position in the world, their view on responsibilities for causing climate change, and their perceptions of possible responses. The ethnographic work at two study sites, one in Carhuaz, Cordillera Blanca, Peru, and one in Stilfs, South Tyrolean Alps, Italy, identifies dominant perceptions on climate change at each site with a particular focus on glacier retreat. The case studies show that the view on the need for global action as response to climate change is not necessarily shared throughout the world, and thus presents a challenge to global collaboration.
Assignificantimpactsofclimatechangeareincreasinglyconsideredunavoidable,adaptationhas become a policypriority. Itis generally agreedthat science is importantfor the adaptation process but specific guidance on how and to what degree science should contribute and be embedded in this process is still limited which is at odds with the high demand for science contributions to climate adaptation by international organizations, national governments and others. Here we presentandanalyzeexperiencesfromthetropicalAndesbasedonarecentscience-policyprocess on the national and supra-national government level. During this process a framework for the science contribution in climate adaptation has been developed; it consists of three stages, including(1) the framing and problemdefinition, (2)the scientific assessmentof climate, impacts, vulnerabilitiesandrisks,and(3)theevaluationofadaptationoptionsandtheirimplementation.A large amount of methods has been analyzed for stage (2), and a number of major climate adaptation projects in the region assessed for (3). Our study underlines the importance of joint problem framing among various scientific and non-scientific actors, definition of socio-environmental systems, time frames, and a more intense interaction of social and physical climate and impact sciences.Scientifically,thescarcityofenvironmental,socialandeconomic data inregions like the Andes continue to represent a limitation to adaptation, and further investments into coordinated socio-environmental monitoring, data availability and sharing are essential.
Extensive land use changes in forest frontier landscapes are leading to trade-offs in the supply of ecosystem services (ES) with, in many cases, as yet unknown effects on human well-being. In the Tanintharyi Region of Myanmar, a forest frontier landscape facing oil palm and rubber expansion, little is known about local perspectives on ES and the direct impact of trade-offs from land use change. This study assessed the trade-offs experienced with respect to 10 locally important ES from land user perspectives using social valuation techniques. The results show that while intact forests provide the most highly valued ES bundle, the conversion to rubber plantations entails fewer negative trade-offs than that to oil palm. Rubber plantations offer income, fuelwood, a good microclimate, and even new cultural identities. By contrast, oil palm concessions have caused environmental pollution, and, most decisively, have restricted local people’s access to the respective lands. The ES water flow regulation is seen as the most critical if more forest is converted; other ES, such as non-timber forest products, can be more easily substituted. We conclude that, from local perspectives, the impact of ES trade-offs highly depends on access to land and opportunities to adapt to change.
The mountain cryosphere, which includes glaciers, permafrost and snow, is one of the Earth's systems most strongly affected by climate change. In recent decades, changes in the cryosphere have been well documented in many high-mountain regions. Whilst there are some benefits from snow and ice loss, the negative impacts, including from glacier lake outburst floods, and variations in glacier runoff, are generally considered to far outweigh the positive impacts, particularly if cultural impacts are considered. In international climate policy, there has been growing momentum to address the negative impacts of climate change, or 'loss and damage' (L&D) from climate change. It is not clear exactly what can and should be done to tackle L&D, but researchers and practitioners are beginning to engage with policy discussions and develop potential frameworks and supporting information. Despite the strong impact of climate change on the mountain cryosphere, there has been limited interaction between cryosphere researchers and L&D. Therefore, little work has been done to consider how L&D in the mountain cryosphere might be conceptualized, categorized and assessed. Here we make a first attempt to analyze L&D in the mountain cryosphere by conducting a systematic literature review to extract L&D impacts and examples from existing literature. We find that L&D is a global phenomenon in the mountain cryosphere and has been more frequently documented in the developing world, both in relation with slow and sudden onset processes. We develop a categorization of L&D, making distinctions between physical and societal impacts, primary and secondary impacts,
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