Journal
SUSTAINABILITY
Volume 15, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/su15021556
Keywords
climate change adaptation; adaptation plan; small municipality; France; United States; climate services; information
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There is a consensus on the need for user-friendly tools and reliable data to adapt to climate change in cities. This study examines the availability of information used in the climate adaptation plans of small municipalities in the US and France. The integration of non-climatic spatial data with climate tools is crucial for effective vulnerability assessment and equitable adaptation planning. However, most climate adaptation plans neglect existing structural inequalities and environmental injustices. Methodological and ideological barriers, data quality issues, and a lack of community connections are challenges that need to be addressed in reassessing adaptation approaches.
There is a growing consensus that to effectively adapt to climate change, cities need user-friendly tools and reliable high-resolution biophysical and socio-economic data for analysis, mapping, modeling, and visualization. This study examines the availability of various types of information used in climate adaptation plans of 40 municipalities with a population of less than 300,000 people in the United States and France, probing into the choice and usage of relevant information by small municipalities. We argue that non-climatic spatial data, such as population demographic and socio-economic patterns, urban infrastructure, and environmental data must be integrated with climate tools and datasets to inform effective vulnerability assessment and equitable adaptation planning goals. Most climate adaptation plans examined in this study fail to address the existing structural inequalities and environmental injustices in urban infrastructure and land use. Their challenges include methodological and ideological barriers, data quality issues, and a lack of meaningful community connections. Adaptation methodological approaches should be reassessed in the context of much-needed societal transformation. Lessons learned from our studies offer valuable insights for the potential development of national and state-level climate adaptation information services for cities.
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