Climate resilience
Climate resilience can be generally dened as the capac-
ity for a socio-ecological system to: (1) absorb stresses
and maintain function in the face of external stresses im-
posed upon it by climate change and (2) adapt, reorga-
nize, and evolve into more desirable congurations that
improve the sustainability of the system, leaving it better
prepared for future climate change impacts. [1] [2]
With the rising awareness of climate change impacts by
both national and international bodies, building climate
resilience has become a major goal for these institu-
tions. The key focus of climate resilience eorts is to
address the vulnerability that communities, states, and
countries currently have with regards to the environmen-
tal consequences of climate change. Currently, climate
resilience eorts encompass social, economic, technolog-
ical, and political strategies that are being implemented
at all scales of society. From local community action to
global treaties, addressing climate resilience is becoming
a priority, although it could be argued that a signicant
amount of the theory has yet to be translated into practice.
Despite this, there is a robust and ever-growing move-
ment fueled by local and national bodies alike geared to-
wards building and improving climate resilience.
1 Introduction
1.1 Denition of climate resilience
In actuality, there is still a great deal of abstract discussion
and debate regarding a number of subtle nuances associ-
ated with the precise denition of the climate resilience
perspective, such as its relation to climate change adapta-
tion, the extent to which it should encompass actor-based
versus systems-based approaches to improving stability,
and its relationship with the balance of nature theory or
homeostatic equilibrium view of ecological systems. [1]
Currently, the majority of work regarding climate re-
silience has been centered around examining the capacity
for social-ecological systems to sustain shocks and main-
tain the integrity of functional relationships in the face of
external forces. However, there is a growing consensus
in academic literature which argues that greater attention
needs to be focused on investigating the other critical as-
pect of climate resilience, which is the capacity for social-
ecological systems to renew and develop, and to utilize A graphic displaying the inter-connectivity between climate
disturbances as opportunities for innovation and evolu- change, adaptability, vulnerability, and resilience.
tion of new pathways that improve the systems ability to
adapt to macroscopic changes. [1] [3]
1.2 Climate resilience vs. climate adapta-
tion
The fact that climate resilience encompasses a dual func-
tion, to absorb shock as well as to self-renew, is the pri-
mary means by which it can be dierentiated from the
concept of climate adaptation. In general, adaptation is
viewed as a group of processes and actions that help a sys-
tem absorb changes that have already occurred, or may
be predicted to occur in the future. For the specic case
of environmental change and climate adaptation, it is ar-
gued by many that adaptation should be dened strictly
as encompassing only active decision-making processes
and actions - in other words, deliberate changes made
in response to climate change. [2] Of course, this char-
acterization is highly debatable: after all, adaptation can
also be used to describe natural, involuntary processes by
which organisms, populations, ecosystems and perhaps
even social-ecological systems evolve after the applica-
tion of certain external stresses. However, for the pur-
poses of dierentiating climate adaptation and climate
resilience from a policymaking standpoint, we can con-
trast the active, actor-centric notion of adaptation with re-
silience, which would be a more systems-based approach
to building social-ecological networks that are inherently
capable of not only absorbing change, but utilizing those
changes to develop into more ecient congurations.
1.3 Inter-connectivity between climate re-
silience, climate change, adaptability,
and vulnerability
A conversation about climate resilience is incomplete
1
2 2 CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
without also incorporating the concepts of adaptations,
vulnerability, and climate change. If the denition of re-
siliency is the ability to recover from a negative event,
in this case climate change, then talking about prepara-
tions beforehand and strategies for recovery (aka adapta-
tions), as well as populations that are more less capable
of developing and implementing a resiliency strategy (aka
vulnerable populations) are essential. This is framed un-
der the assumed detrimental impacts of climate change
to ecosystems and ecosystem services.[4]
1.4 Historical overview of climate re-
silience
Climate resilience is a relatively novel concept that is still
in the process of being established by academia and poli-
cymaking institutions. However, the theoretical basis for
many of the ideas central to climate resilience have ac-
tually existed since the 1960s. Originally an idea dened
for strictly ecological systems, resilience was initially out-
lined by C.S. Holling as the capacity for ecological sys-
tems and relationships within those systems to persist and
absorb changes to state variables, driving variables, and
parameters. [5] This denition helped form the founda-
tion for the notion of ecological equilibrium: the idea
that the behavior of natural ecosystems is dictated by a
homeostatic drive towards some stable set point. Under
this school of thought (which maintained quite a domi-
nant status during this time period), ecosystems were per-
ceived to respond to disturbances largely through negative
feedback systems if there is a change, the ecosystem
would act to mitigate that change as much as possible and
attempt to return to its prior state. However, the idea of
resilience began evolving relatively quickly in the coming
years.
As greater amounts of scientic research in ecological
adaptation and natural resource management was con-
ducted, it became clear that oftentimes, natural sys-
tems were subjected to dynamic, transient behaviors that
changed how they reacted to signicant changes in state
variables: rather than work back towards a predetermined
equilibrium, the absorbed change was harnessed to estab-
lish a new baseline to operate under. Rather than mini-
mizes imposed changes, ecosystems could integrate and
manage those changes, and use them fuel the evolution of
novel characteristics. This new perspective of resilience
as a concept that inherently works synergistically with el-
ements of uncertainty and entropy rst began to facilitate
changes in the eld of adaptive management and envi-
ronmental resources, through work whose basis was in-
terestingly built by Holling and colleagues yet again. [1]
[6]
By the mid 1970s, resilience began gaining momentum as
an idea in anthropology, culture theory, and other social
sciences. Even more compelling is the fact that there was
signicant work in these relatively non-traditional elds
that helped facilitate the evolution of the resilience per-
spective as a whole. Part of the reason resilience began
moving away from an equilibrium-centric view and to-
wards a more exible, malleable description of social-
ecological systems was due to work such as that of An-
drew Vayda and Bonnie McCay in the eld of social an-
thropology, where more modern versions of resilience
were deployed to challenge traditional ideals of cultural
dynamics. [7]
Eventually by the late 1980s and early 1990s, resilience
had fundamentally changed as a theoretical framework.
Not only was it now applicable to social-ecological sys-
tems, but more importantly, resilience now incorporated
and emphasized ideas of management, integration, and
utilization of change rather than simply describing re-
actions to change. Resilience was no longer just about
absorbing shocks, but also about harnessing the changes
triggered by external stresses to catalyze the evolution the
social-ecological system in question.
As the issues of global warming and climate change have
gained traction and become more prominent since the
early 1990s, the question of climate resilience has also
emerged. Considering the global implications of the im-
pacts induced by climate change, climate resilience has
become a critical concept that scientic institutions, pol-
icymakers, governments, and international organizations
have begun to rally around as a framework for designing
the solutions that will be needed to address the eects of
global warming.
2 Climate resilience and environ-
mental justice
2.1 Applications of a resilience frame-
work: addressing vulnerability
A climate resilience framework oers a rich plethora of
contributions that can improve our understanding of en-
vironmental processes, and better equip governments and
policymakers to develop sustainable solutions that com-
bat the eects of climate change. To begin with, cli-
mate resilience establishes the idea of multi-stable socio-
ecological systems. As discussed earlier, resilience orig-
inally began as an idea that extended from the stable
equilibrium view systems only acted to return to their
pre-existing states when exposed to a disturbance. But
with modern interpretations of resilience, it is now estab-
lished that socio-ecological systems can actually stabilize
around a multitude of possible states. Secondly, climate
resilience has played a critical role in emphasizing the im-
portance of preventive action when assessing the eects
of climate change. Although adaptation is always going
to be a key consideration, making changes after the fact
has a limited capability to help communities and nations
deal with climate change. By working to build climate re-
2.2 Vulnerability 3

silience, policymakers and governments can take a more huge investments in infrastructure, city planning, engi-
comprehensive stance that works to mitigate the harms neering sustainable energy sources, and preparedness sys-
of global warming impacts before they happen.[2] [8] Fi- tems. From a global perspective, it is more likely that
nally, a climate resilience perspective encourages greater people living at or below poverty will be aected the most
cross-scale connectedness of systems. Climate change by climate change and are thus the most vulnerable, be-
scholars have argued that solely relying on theories of cause they will have the least amount of resource dollars
adaptation is also limiting because inherently, this per- to invest in resiliency infrastructure. They will also have
spective does not necessitate as much full-system cohe- the least amount of resource dollars for cleanup eorts
sion as a resilience perspective would. Creating mecha- after more frequently occurring natural climate change
nisms of adaptation that occur in isolation at local, state, related disasters.[11]
or national levels may leave the overall social-ecological
system vulnerable. A resilience-based framework would
require far more cross-talk, and the creation of environ- 2.2.2 Geographic vulnerability
mental protections that are more holistically generated
and implemented. [2] [9] A second denition of vulnerability relates to geographic
vulnerability. The most geographically vulnerable loca-
tions to climate change are those that will be impacted by
2.2 Vulnerability side eects of natural hazards, such as rising sea levels
and by dramatic changes in ecosystem services, includ-
Vulnerability is an essential component of the climate re- ing access to food. Island nations are usually noted as
silience discussion because people that are the most likely more vulnerable but communities that rely heavily [12]
on a
to experience the majority of negative impacts of climate sustenance based lifestyle are also at greater risk.
change are those that are least capable of developing ro-
bust and comprehensive climate resiliency infrastructure
and response systems. However what exactly constitutes
a vulnerable community is still open to debate. The In-
ternational Panel on Climate Change has dened vulner-
ability using three characteristics: the adaptive capac-
ity, sensitivity, and exposure to the eects of climate
change. The adaptive capacity refers to a communitys
capacity to create resiliency infrastructure, while the sen-
sitivity and exposure elements are both tied to economic
and geographic elements that vary widely in diering
communities. There are, however, many commonalities
between vulnerable communities.[10]
Vulnerability can mainly be broken down into 2
major categories, economic vulnerability, based on
socioeconomic factors, and geographic vulnerability.
Neither are mutually exclusive.

2.2.1 Economic vulnerability

Abaco Islands- An example of a low elevation island community

likely to be impacted by rising sea level associated with changing
climate.

Roger E. Kasperson and Jeanne X. Kasperson of the

Stockholm Environmental Institute compiled a list of
vulnerable communities as having one or more of these
World gross national income per capita. characteristics.[13]

At its basic level, a community that is economically vul- food insecure

nerable is one that is ill prepared for the eects of cli- water scarce
mate change because it lacks the needed nancial re-
sources. Preparing a climate resilient society will require delicate marine ecosystem
4 2 CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
sh dependent
small island community
2.3 Vulnerability and equity: environmen-
tal justice and climate justice 2.3.2 International and national climate justice
Equity is another essential component of vulnerability
and is closely tied to issues of environmental justice and
climate justice. Who participates in and who has access
to climate resiliency services and infrastructure are more
than likely going to fall along historically unequitable pat-
terns of distribution. As the most vulnerable communi-
ties are likely to be the most heavily impacted, a climate
justice movement is coalescing in response. There are
many aspects of climate justice that relate to resiliency
and many climate justice advocates argue that justice
should be an essential component of resiliency strategies.
Similar frameworks that have been applied to the Climate
Justice movement can be utilized to address some of
these equity issues. The frameworks are similar to other
types of justice movements and include- contractariansim
which attempts to allocate the most benets for the poor,
utilitarianism which seeks to nd the most benets for the
most amount of people, egalitarianism which attempts to
reduce inequality, and libertarianism which emphasizes a
fair share of burden but also individual freedoms.[14]
The Act for Climate Justice Campaign has dened cli-
mate justice as a vision to dissolve and alleviate the un-
equal burdens created by climate change. As a form of
environmental justice, climate justice is the fair treat-
ment of all people and freedom from discrimination with
the creation of policies and projects that address climate
change and the systems that create climate change and
perpetuate discrimination.[15]
Climate Justice can incorporate both grassroots as well as
international and national level organizing movements.
2.3.1 Local level issues of equity
Many indigenous peoples live sustenance based lifestyles,
relying heavily on local ecosystem services for their liveli-
hoods. According to some denitions, indigenous peo-
ples are often some of the most vulnerable to the im-
pacts of climate change and advocating for participa-
tion of marginalized groups is one goal of the indige-
nous peoples climate justice movement. Climate change
will likely dramatically alter local food production capac-
ity, which will impact those people who are more depen-
dent on local food sources and less dependent on global
or regional food supplies. The greatest injustice is that
people living this type of lifestyle are least likely to have
contributed to the causes of global climate change in the
rst place. Indigenous peoples movements often involve
protests and calling on action from world leaders to ad-
dress climate change concerns.[16]
Another local level climate justice movement is the adap-
tation nance approach which has been found in some
studies to be a positive solution by providing resource dol-
lars directly to communities in need.[17]
The carbon market approach is one international and na-
tional concept proposed that tries to solve the issue by us-
ing market forces to make carbon use less aordable, but
vulnerable host communities that are the intended bene-
ciaries have been found to receive little to no benet.[18]
One problem noted with the carbon market approach is
the inherent conict of interest embedded between devel-
oped and sustenance based communities. Developed na-
tions that have often prioritized growth of their own gross
national product over implementing changes that would
address climate change concerns by taxing carbon which
might damage GDP.[19] In addition the pace of change
necessary to implement a carbon market approach is too
slow to be eective at most international and national pol-
icy levels.[18]
Alternatively, a study by V.N Mather, et al. proposes a
multi-level approach that focuses on addressing some pri-
mary issues concerning climate justice at local and inter-
national levels. The approach includes:[18]
developing the capacity for a carbon market ap-
proach
focusing on power dynamics within local and re-
gional government
managing businesses in regard to carbon practices
special attention given to developing countries
2.3.3 Climate justice, environmental justice, and
the United States
The issue of environmental justice and climate justice
is relevant within the United States because historically
communities of color and low socioeconomic commu-
nities have been under served and underrepresented in
terms of distribution and participation.[20] The question
of by and for whom resiliency strategies are targeted
and implemented is of great concern.[21] Inadequate re-
sponse and resiliency strategies to recent natural disasters
in communities of color, such as Hurricane Katrina, are
examples of environmental injustices and inadequate re-
silience strategies in already vulnerable communities.[22]
The National Association for the Advancement of Col-
ored PeopleNAACP has recently begun a Climate Justice
campaign[23] in response to events such as Hurricane Ka-
trina and in preparation for future climate change related
natural disasters. The goal of this campaign is to address
3.1 Urban resilience 5

3.1 Urban resilience

There is increasing concern on an international level with

regards to addressing and combating the impending im-
plications of climate change for urban areas, where pop-
ulations of these cities around the world are growing dis-
proportionately high. There is even more concern for the
rapidly growing urban centers in developing countries,
where the majority of urban inhabitants are poor or oth-
erwise vulnerable to climate-related disturbances.[25]
Urban centers around the world house important societal
and economic sectors, so resiliency framework has been
New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina levee damage. augmented to specically include and focus on protecting
these urban systems.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
the 3 Rs of climate justice: resilience, resistance, and re-
denes resilience as the ability of a social or ecological
visioning. The NAACPs climate justice initiative will
system to absorb disturbances while retaining the same
address climate resilience through advocacy, outreach,
basic structure and ways of functioning, the capacity of
political actions, research and education.[23]
self-organization, and the capacity to adapt to stress and
change.[25] One of the most important notions empha-
sized in urban resiliency theory is the need for urban sys-
Climate gap Another concept important for under- tems to increase their capacity to absorb environmen-
standing vulnerability in the United States is the climate tal disturbances. By focusing on three generalizable el-
gap. The climate gap is the inequitably negative impact ements of the resiliency movement, Tyler and Moenchs
on poor people and people of color due to the eects of urban resiliency framework serves as a model that can be
climate change. Some of these negative impacts include implemented for local planning on an international scale.
higher cost of living expenses, higher incidences of heat The rst element of urban climate resiliency focuses on
related health consequences in urban areas that are likely systems or the physical infrastructure embedded in ur-
to experience urban heat island eects, increased pollu- ban systems. A critical concern of urban resiliency is
tion in urban areas, and decreases in available jobs for linked to the idea of maintaining support systems that in
poor people and people of color. Some suggested so- turn enable the networks of provisioning and exchange
lutions to close the climate gap include suggesting leg- for populations in urban areas.[25] These systems concern
islative policies that would reduce the impact of climate both physical infrastructure in the city and ecosystems
change by reducing carbon emissions with the emphasis within or surrounding the urban center; while working to
of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and toxic air provide essential services like food production, ood con-
pollution in neighborhoods that are already heavily im- trol, or runo management.[25] For example, city electric-
pacted, usually urban centers. Other solutions include ity, a necessity of urban life, depends on the performance
increasing access to quality health care for poor peo- of generators, grids, and distant reservoirs. The failure
ple and people of color, preparedness planning for ur- of these core systems jeopardizes human well-being in
ban heat island eects, identifying neighborhoods that are these urban areas, with that being said, it is crucial to
most likely to be impacted, investing in alternative fuel maintain them in the face of impending environmental
and energy research, and measuring the results of policy disturbances. Societies need to build resiliency into these
impacts.[24] systems in order to achieve such a feat. Resilient sys-
tems work to ensure that functionality is retained and can
be re-instated through system linkages[25] despite some
failures or operational disturbances. Ensuring the func-
3 Theoretical foundations for tionality of these important systems is achieved through
instilling and maintaining exibility in the presence of a
building climate resilience safe failure.[25] Resilient systems achieve exibility by
making sure that key functions are distributed in a way
As the threat of environmental disturbances due to that they would not all be aected by a given event at one
climate change becomes more and more relevant, so does time, what is often referred to as spatial diversity, and
the need for strategies to build a more resilient society. As has multiple methods for meeting a given need, what is
climate resiliency literature has revealed, there are dier- often referred to as functional diversity.[25] The presence
ent strategies and suggestions that all work towards the of safe failures also plays a critical role in maintaining
overarching goal of building and maintaining societal re- these systems, which work by absorbing sudden shocks
siliency. that may even exceed design thresholds.[25] Environmen-
6 3 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR BUILDING CLIMATE RESILIENCE

tal disturbances are certainly expected to challenge the of climatic disturbances when compared to their poorer,
dexterity of these systems, so the presence of safe fail- more vulnerable counterparts in society. Just like the
ures almost certainly appears to be a necessity. wealthier countries have worked to create the most pol-
Further, another important component of these systems lution, the wealthier subpopulations of society who can
is bounce-back ability. In the instance where danger- aord carbon-emitting luxuries like cars and homes un-
ous climatic events aect these urban centers, recover- doubtedly produce a much more signicant carbon foot-
ing or bouncing-back is of great importance. In fact, in print. It is also important to note that these more vulner-
most disaster studies, urban resilience is often dened as able populations, because of their inferior social statuses,
are unable to participate in the decision-making processes
the capacity of a city to rebound from destruction. This
idea of bounce-back for urban systems is also engrained with regards to these issues. Decision-making processes
must be augmented to be more participatory and inclu-
in governmental literature of the same topic. For exam-
ple, the former governments rst Intelligence and Secu- sive, allowing those individuals and groups most aected
by environmental disturbances to play an active role in
rity Coordinator of the United States described urban re- [29]
silience as the capacity to absorb shocks and to bounce determining how to best avoid them. Another impor-
back into functioning shape, or at the least, sucient tant role of these social and political institutions will con-
resilience to prevent...system collapse. Keeping these cern the dissemination of public information. Individ-
quotations in mind, bounce-back discourse has been and ual communities who have access to timely information
should continue to be an important part of urban climate with regards
[30]
to hazards are better able to respond to these
resiliency framework. [26]
Other theorists have critiqued threats.
this idea of bounce-back, citing this as privileging the
status quo, rather advocating the notion of bouncing for- 3.2 Human resilience
ward, permitting system evolution and improvement.[27]
The next element of urban climate resiliency focuses on Global climate change is going to increase the proba-
the social agents (also described as social actors) present bility of extreme weather events and environmental dis-
in urban centers. Many of these agents depend on the ur- turbances around the world, needless to say, future hu-
ban centers for their very existence, so they share a com- man populations are going to have to confront this is-
mon interest of working towards protecting and maintain- sue. Every society around the world diers in its capacity
ing their urban surroundings.[25] Agents in urban centers with regards to combating climate change because of cer-
have the capacity to deliberate and rationally make deci- tain pre-existing factors such as having the proper mone-
sions, which plays an important role in climate resiliency tary and institutional mechanisms in place to execute pre-
theory. One cannot overlook the role of local govern- paredness and recovery plans. Despite these dierences,
ments and community organizations, which will be forced communities around the world are on a level-playing eld
to make key decisions with regards to organizing and with regards to building and maintaining at least some de-
delivering key services and plans for combating the im- gree human resilience.[31]
pending eects of climate change.[25] Perhaps most im- Resilience has two components: that provided by na-
portantly, these social agents must increase their capac- ture, and that provided through human action and inter-
ities with regards to the notions of resourcefulness and action. An example of climate resilience provided by
responsiveness.[25] Responsiveness refers to the capacity nature is the manner in which porous soil more eec-
of social actors and groups to organize and re-organize, tively allows for the drainage of ood water than more
as well as the ability to anticipate and plan for disruptive compact soil. An example of human action that aects
events. Resourcefulness refers to the capacity of social climate resilience would be the facilitation of response
actors in urban centers to mobilize varying assets and re- and recovery procedures by social institutions or organi-
sources in order to take action.[25] Urban centers will be zations. This theory of human resilience largely focuses
able to better fend for themselves in the heat of climatic on the human populations and calls for building towards
disturbances when responsiveness and resourcefulness is the overall goal of decreasing human vulnerability in the
collectively achieved in an eective manner. face of climate change and extreme weather events. Vul-
The nal component of urban climate resiliency con- nerability to climatic disturbances has two sides: the rst
cerns the social and political institutions present in ur- deals with the degree of exposure to dangerous hazards,
ban environments. Governance, the process of deci- which one can eectively identify as susceptibility. The
sion making, is a critical element aecting climate re- second side deals with the capacity to recover from dis-
siliency. As climate justice has revealed, the individual aster consequences, or resilience in other words.[31] The
areas and countries that are least responsible for the phe- looming threat of environmental disturbances and ex-
nomenon of climate change are also the ones who are treme weather events certainly calls for some action, and
going to be most negatively aected by future environ- human resiliency theory seeks to solve the issue by largely
mental disturbances.[28] The same is true in urban cen- focusing on decreasing the vulnerability of human popu-
ters. Those who are most responsible for climate change lations.
are going to disproportionately feel the negative eects How do human populations work to decrease their vul-
4.1 Local and community level
nerability to impending and dangerous climatic events?
Up until recently, the international approach to envi-
ronmental emergencies focused largely on post-impact
activities such as reconstruction and recovery.[31] How-
ever, the international approach is changing to a more
comprehensive risk assessment that includes pre-impact
disaster risk reduction - prevention, preparedness, and
mitigation.[32] In the case of human resiliency, prepared-
ness can largely be dened as the measures taken in ad-
vance to ensure an eective response to the impact of en-
vironmental hazards.[31] Mitigation, when viewed in this
context, refers to the structural and nonstructural mea-
sures undertaken to limit the adverse impacts of climatic
disturbances.[31] This is not to be confused to mitigation
with regards to the overall topic of climate change, which
refers to reduction of carbon or greenhouse emissions.
By accounting for these impending climate disasters both
before and after the occur, human populations are able to
decrease their vulnerability to these disturbances.
A major element of building and maintaining human
resilience is public health.[31] The institution of public
health as a whole is uniquely placed at the community
level to foster human resilience to climate-related distur-
bances. As an institution, public health can play an ac-
tive part in reducing human vulnerability by promoting
healthy people and healthy homes.[33] ) Healthy people
are less likely to suer from disaster-related mortality and
are therefore viewed as more disaster-resilient. Healthy
homes are designed and built to maintain its structure
and withstand extreme climate events. By merely focus-
ing on the individual health of populations and assuring
the durability of the homes that house these populations,
at least some degree human resiliency towards climate
change can be achieved.
4 Climate resilience in practice
The building of climate resilience is a highly comprehen-
sive undertaking that involves of an eclectic array of ac-
tors and agents: individuals, community organizations,
micropolitical bodies, corporations, governments at lo-
cal, state, and national levels as well as international or-
ganizations. In essence, actions that bolster climate re-
silience are ones that will enhance the adaptive capac-
ity of social, industrial, and environmental infrastructures
that can mitigate the eects of climate change. [34] Cur-
rently, research indicates that the strongest indicator of
successful climate resilience eorts at all scales is a well-
developed, pre-existing network of social, political, eco-
nomic and nancial institutions that is already positioned
to eectively take on the work of identifying and address-
ing the risks posed by climate change. Cities, states, and
nations that have already developed such networks are, as
Housing inequality is directly related to the ability for
expected, to generally have far higher net incomes and individuals and communities to sustain adverse impacts
GDP. [35] brought on by extreme weather events that are triggered
Therefore it can be seen that embedded within the task by climate change, such as severe winds, storms, and
7
of building climate resilience at any scale will be the
overcoming of macroscopic socioeconomic inequities: in
many ways, truly facilitating the construction of climate
resilient communities worldwide will require national and
international agencies to address issues of global poverty,
industrial development, and food justice. However, this
does not mean that actions to improve climate resilience
cannot be taken in real time at all levels, although evi-
dence suggests that the most climate resilient cities and
nations have accumulated this resilience through their
responses to previous weather-based disasters. Perhaps
even more importantly, empirical evidence suggests that
the creation of the climate resilient structures is depen-
dent upon an array of social and environmental reforms
that were only successfully passed due to the presence
of certain sociopolitical structures such as democracy,
activist movements, and decentralization of government.
[36]
Thus it can be seen that to build climate resilience one
must work within a network of related social and eco-
nomic decisions that can have adverse eects on the suc-
cess of a resilience eort given the competing interests
participating in the discussion. Given this, it is clear that
the social and economic scale play a vital role in shap-
ing the feasibility, costs, empirical success, and eciency
of climate resilience initiatives. There is a wide vari-
ety of actions that can be pursued to improve climate
resilience at multiple scales the following subsections
we will review a series of illustrative case studies and
strategies from a broad diversity of societal contexts that
are currently being implemented to strengthen climate re-
silience.
4.1 Local and community level
4.1.1 Housing and workplace conditions
Improving housing conditions in Kenya is a prime target for local
climate resilience eorts
8 4 CLIMATE RESILIENCE IN PRACTICE

ooding. Especially for communities in developing na- 4.1.3 Low-cost engineering solutions
tions and the Third World, the integrity of housing struc-
tures is one of the most signicant sources of vulnerabil- Equally important to building climate resilience has been
ity currently. [37] However, even in more developed na- the wide array of basic technological solutions have been
tions such as the US, there are still multitudes of socioe-developed and implemented at community levels. In de-
conomically disadvantaged areas where outdated hous- veloping countries such as Mozambique and Tanzania,
ing infrastructure is estimated to provide poor climate re-the construction of concrete breaker walls and con-
silience at best, as well as numerous negative health out- centrated use of sandbags in key areas such as hous-
comes. [35] ing entrances and doorways has improved the ability of
communities to sustain the damages yielded by extreme
Eorts to improve the resiliency of housing and work-
weather events. Additional strategies have included dig-
place buildings involves not only fortifying these build-
ging homemade drainage systems to protect local infras-
ings through use of updated materials and foundation,
tructure of extensive water damage and ooding. [37]
but also establishing better standards that ensure safer
and health conditions for occupants. Better housing stan-
dards are in the course of being established through calls
for sucient space, natural lighting, provision for heat-
ing or cooling, insulation, and ventilation. Another ma-
jor issue faced more commonly by communities in the
Third World are highly disorganized and inconsistently
enforced housing rights systems. In countries such as
Kenya and Nicaragua, local militias or corrupted gov-
ernment bodies that have reserved the right to seizure of
any housing properties as needed: the end result is the
degradation of any ability for citizens to develop climate
resilient housing without property rights for their own
homes, the people are powerless to make changes to their
housing situation without facing potentially harmful con-
sequences. [38]

4.1.2 Grassroots community organizing and mi-
cropolitical action
Modern climate resilience scholars have noted that con-
trary to conventional beliefs, the communities that have
been most eective in establishing high levels of climate
resilience have actually done so through bottom-up po-
litical pressures. Top-down approaches involving state
or federal level decisions have empirically been marred
with dysfunction across dierent levels of government
due to internal mismanagement and political gridlock.
[35] [36]
As a result, in many ways it is being found that
the most ecient responses to climate change have actu-
ally been initiated and mobilized at local levels. Particu-
larly compelling has been the ability of bottom-up pres-
sures from local civil society to fuel the creation of mi-
cropolitical institutions that have compartmentalized the
tasks necessary for building climate resilience. For ex-
ample, the city of Tokyo, Japan has developed a robust
network of micropolitical agencies all dedicated to build-
ing resilience in specic industrial sectors: transportation,
workplace conditions, emergency shelters, and more. [35]
Due to their compact size, local level micropolitical bod-
ies can act quickly without much stagnation and resis-
tance from larger special interests that can generate bu-
reaucratic dysfunction at higher levels of government.
An aerial view of Dehli, India where urban forests are being de-
veloped to improve the weather resistance and climate resilience
of the city
In more urban areas, construction of a green belt on
the peripheries of cities has become increasingly com-
mon. Green belts are being used as means of improving
climate resilience in addition to provide natural air l-
tering, these belts of trees have proven to be a healthier
and sustainable means of mitigating the damages created
by heavy winds and storms. [35] [39]
4.2 State and national level
4.2.1 Infrastructural development disaster pre-
paredness protocols
At larger governmental levels, general programs to im-
prove climate resiliency through greater disaster pre-
paredness are being implemented. For example in cases
such as Norway, this includes the development of more
sensitive and far-reaching early warning systems for ex-
treme weather events, creation of emergency electricity
power sources, enhanced public transportation systems,
and more. [40] To examine another case study, the state
California in the US has been pursuing more compre-
hensive federal nancial aid systems for communities af-
icted by natural disaster, spurred in part by the large
4.4 Case studies
amounts of criticism that was placed on the US federal billion dollar Green Climate Fund for developing na-
government after what was perceived by many to be a tions, if and how this fund will actually be created still
mishandling of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy remains unclear.[47]
relief. [41] [42]
Additionally, a key focus of action at state and federal
levels is in improving water management infrastructure
and access. Strategies include the creation of emergency
drinking water supplies, stronger sanitation technology
and standards, as well as more extensive and ecient net-
works of water delivery.
4.2.2 Social services
Climate resilience literature has also noted that one of
the more indirect sources of resilience actually lies in the
strength of the social services and social safety net that
is provided for citizens by public institutions. This is an
especially critical aspect of climate resilience in more so-
cioeconomically disadvantaged communities, cities, and
nations. It has been empirically found that places with
stronger systems of social security and pensions often-
times have better climate resiliency. [35] This is reason-
ing in the following manner: rst of all, better social ser-
vices for citizens translates to better access to healthcare,
education, life insurance, and emergency services. Sec-
ondly, stronger systems of social services also generally
increase the overall ownership of relevant economic as-
sets that are correlated with better quality of life such as
savings, house ownership, and more. Nations where res-
idents are on more stable economic footing are in situa-
tions where there is a far higher incentive for private in-
vestment into climate resilience eorts.[35]
4.3 Global level
4.3.1 International treaties
At the global level, most action towards climate resilience
has been manifested in the signing of international agree-
ments that set up guidelines and frameworks to address
the impacts of climate change. Notable examples include
the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Cli-
mate Change (UNFCCC), the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the
UNFCCC, and the 2010 Cancun Agreement.[43] In some
cases, as is the case with the Kyoto Protocol for example,
these international treaties involve placing legally binding
requirements on participant nations to reduce processes
that contribute to global warming such as greenhouse gas
emissions.[44][45] In other cases, such as the 2010 United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, propos-
als for the creation of international funding pools to as-
sist developing nations in combating climate change are
seen.[46] However, that enforcement of any of the require-
ments or principles that are established in such interna-
tional treaties has ambiguous: for example, although the
2010 Cancun conference called for the creation of a 100
9
4.4 Case studies
As the looming threat of climate change and environmen-
tal disturbances becomes more and more immediate, so
does the need for policy to combat the issue. As a rel-
atively new phenomenon, climate change has yet to re-
ceive the political attention it deserves. However, the cli-
mate justice and climate change movements are gaining
momentum on an international scale as both grass roots
campaigns and supranational organizations begin to gain
inuence.[48] However, the most signicant and impact-
ing changes come from national and state governments
around the world, as they have the political and monetary
power to more eectively enforce their proposals.
4.4.1 United States (as a country)
As it stands today, there is no country-wide legislation
with regards to the topic of climate resiliency in the
United States. However, in mid February 2014, President
Barack Obama announced his plan to propose a $1 bil-
lion Climate Resilience Fund.[49] The details of exactly
what the fund will seek to accomplish are vague since the
fund is only in the stage of being proposed for Congresss
approval in 2015. However, in the speech given the day
of the announcement of this proposal, Obama claimed
he will request ...new funding for new technologies to
help communities prepare for a changing climate, set up
incentives to build smarter, more resilient infrastructure.
And nally, my administration will work with tech inno-
vators and launch new challenges under our Climate Data
Initiative, focused initially on rising sea levels and their
impact on the coasts, but ultimately focused on how all
these changes in weather patterns are going to have an im-
pact up and down the United States - not just on the coast
but inland as well - and how do we start preparing for
that.[49] Obamas fund incorporates facets of both urban
resiliency and human resiliency theories, by necessarily
improving communal infrastructure and by focusing on
societal preparation to decrease the countrys vulnerabil-
ity to the impacts of climate change.
4.4.2 Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenixs large population and extremely dry climate
make the city particularly vulnerable to the threats of
drought and extreme heat. However, the city has recently
incorporated climate change into current (and future) wa-
ter management and urban design. And by doing so,
Phoenix has taken steps to ensure sustainable water sup-
plies and to protect populations that are vulnerable to ex-
treme heat, largely through improving the sustainability
10 4 CLIMATE RESILIENCE IN PRACTICE

and eciency of communal infrastructure. For exam-

ple, Phoenix uses renewable surface water supplies and
reserves groundwater for use during the instance when
extended droughts arise. The city is also creating a task
force to redesign the downtown core to minimize the way
buildings trap heat and increase local temperatures.[50]

Pictured here is the conversion of three large rivers in Ningbo,

China. The country is taking substantial measures to combat the
ash oods predicted to intensify in the future.

climate change is of great concern for the entire world.

A number of signicant changes are expected to aect
The outdated infrastructure pictured here in the Phoenix down- China as the looming threat of climate change becomes
town will be undergoing drastic changes geared towards improve- more and more imminent. Heres just one example;
ments in eciency. China has experienced a seven-fold increase in the fre-
quency of oods since the 1950s, rising every decade.
The frequency of extreme rainfall has increased and is
4.4.3 Denver, Colorado predicted to continue to increase in the western and south-
ern parts of China. The country is currently undertaking
The city of Denver has made recent strides to combat the eorts to reduce the threat of these oods (which have
threat of extreme wildres and precipitation events. In the potential eect of completely destroying vulnerable
the year 1996, a re burned nearly 12,000 acres around communities), largely focusing on improving the infras-
Bualo Creek, which serves as the main source of the tructure responsible for tracking and maintaining ade-
citys water supply. Two months following this devas- quate water levels. That being said, the country is pro-
tating wildre, heavy thunderstorms caused ash oods moting the extension of technologies for water allocation
in the burned area, having the eect of washing sedi- and water-saving mechanisms. In the countrys National
ment into the citys reservoir. In fact, this event washed Climate Change Policy Program, one of the goals speci-
more sediment into the reservoir than had accumulated cally set out is to enhance the ability to bear the impacts of
in the 13 years prior. Water treatment costs were esti- climate change, as well as to raise the public awareness on
mated to be $20 million over the next decade following climate change. Chinas National Climate Change Policy
the event. Denver needed a plan to make sure that the city states that it will integrate climate change policies into
would not be devastated by future wildre and ash ood the national development strategy. In China, this national
events. DenverWater and the U.S. Forest Service Rocky policy comes in the form of its Five Year Plans for Eco-
Mountain Region are working together to restore more nomic and Social Development. Chinas Five Year Plans
than 40,000 acres of National Forests lands through pro- serve as the strategic road maps for the countrys devel-
cesses like reforestation, erosion control, and the decom- opment. The goals spelled out in the Five Year Plans are
missioning of roads. Further, Denver has installed sen- mandatory as government ocials are held responsible
sors in the reservoirs in order to monitor the quality of the for meeting the targets.[51]
water and quantity of debris or sediment. These accom-
plishments will have the eect of building a more resilient
Denver, Colorado towards the impending increase of ex- 4.4.5 India
treme weather events such as wildre and ooding.[50]
As the worlds second most populous country, India is
taking action on a number of fronts in order to address
4.4.4 China poverty, natural resource management, as well as prepar-
ing for the inevitable eects of climate change. India has
China has been rapidly emerging as a new superpower, made signicant strides in the energy sector and the coun-
rivaling the United States. As the most populated coun- try is now a global leader in renewable energy. In 2011
try in the world, and one of the leaders of the global India achieved a record $10.3 billion (USD) in clean en-
economy, Chinas response to the impending eects of ergy investments, which the country is now using to fund

solar, wind, and hydropower projects around the coun-
try. In 2008, India published its National Action Plan on
Climate Change (NAPCC), which contains several goals
for the country. These goals include but are not limited
to: covering one third of the country with forests and
trees, increasing renewable energy supply to 6% of to-
tal energy mix by 2022, and the further maintenance of
disaster management. All of the actions work to improve
the resiliency of the country as a whole, and this proves to
be important because India has an economy closely tied
to its natural resource base and climate-sensitive sectors
such as agriculture, water, and forestry.[51]
5 References
[1] Folke, C. (2006). Resilience: The emergence of a per-
spective for social-ecological systems analyses. Global
Environmental Change, 16, 253267. doi:10.1016/j.
gloenvcha.2006.04.002
[2] Nelson, Donald R., W. Neil Adger, and Katrina
Brown. 2007. Adaptation to Environmental
Change: Contributions of a Resilience Frame-
work. Annual Review of Environment and Re-
sources 32: 395419 http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/4245/1/
AnnualReviewofEnvResources_32_395-419_2007.pdf
[3] Tompkins, Emma L., and W. Neil Adger. 2004. Does
Adaptive Management of Natural Resources Enhance Re-
silience to Climate Change? Ecology & Society. http:
//eprints.soton.ac.uk/202863/
[4] Smit, Barry, and Johanna Wandel. Adaptation, adaptive
capacity and vulnerability. Global environmental change
16.3 (2006): 282-292.
[5] Holling, CS. Resilience and Stability of Ecological Sys-
tems Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics Vol. 4:
1-23 (Volume publication date November 1973), DOI:
10.1146/annurev.es.04.110173.000245
[6] Schoon, M. (2005, 2 21). A short histori-
cal overview of the concepts of resilience, vul-
nerability, and adaptation . Retrieved from
http://michaelschoon.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/
historical_critique-of-resilience-working-paper.pdf
[7] NEW DIRECTIONS IN ECOLOGY AND ECOLOGI-
CAL ANTHROPOLOGY Andrew P. Vayda and Bonnie
J. McCay Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 1975.4:293-306
[8] Tschakert, P, and K A Dietrich. 2010. Antic-
ipatory Learning for Climate Change Adapta-
tion and Resilience. Ecology and Society 15: 11.
G:\PublicationsDownload\Resilience\tschakert.
[9] Malhi, Yadvinder, J Timmons Roberts, Richard A Betts,
Timothy J Killeen, Wenhong Li, and Carlos A Nobre.
2008. Climate Change, Deforestation, and the Fate
of the Amazon. Science (New York, N.Y.) 319(5860):
16972. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/319/5860/
169.abstract (March 22, 2014)
11
[10] J.J. McCarthy, O.F. Canziani, N.A. Leary, D.J. Dokken,
K.S. White (Eds.), Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adap-
tation and Vulnerability, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
[11] M.J. Collier et al. Transitioning to resilience and sustain-
ability in urban communities Cities 2013. 32:21S28
[12] K. Hewitt (Ed.), Interpretations of Calamity for the View-
point of Human Ecology, Allen and Unwin, Boston
(1983), pp. 231262
[13] Kasperson, Roger E., and Jeanne X. Kasperson. Cli-
mate change, vulnerability, and social justice. Stockholm:
Stockholm Environment Institute, 2001.
[14] Liu, F. (2000). Environmental justice analysis: Theories,
methods and practice. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press
[15] Act for Climate Justice. (February 2014) What Is Climate
Justice. Retrieved from http://www.actforclimatejustice.
org/about/what-is-climate-justice/
[16] Chwala, A. Climate Justice Movements Gather Strength.
Climate Connections. State of the World. (2009). 119-
121
[17] Barrett, Sam. Local Level Climate Justice? Adaptation
Finance and Vulnerability Reduction. Global Environ-
mental Change 23.6 (2013): 1819-29. Web.
[18] Mathur, Vivek N., et al. Experiences of Host Com-
munities with Carbon Market Projects: Towards Multi-
Level Climate Justice. Climate Policy 14.1 (2014): 42-
62. Web.
[19] Towers, G. (2000). Applying the political geography of
scale: Grassroots strategies and environmental justice.
Professional Geographer, 52, 2336.
[20] Taylor, Dorceta E. Women of color, environmental jus-
tice, and ecofeminism."Ecofeminism: Women, culture,
nature (1997): 38-81
[21] R. Friend, M. Moench (2013) What is the purpose of
urban climate resilience? Implications for addressing
poverty and vulnerability Urban Climate. 6:98113
[22] Susan L. Cutter , Christopher T. Emrich , Jerry T.
Mitchell , Bryan J. Boru , Melanie Gall , Mathew C.
Schmidtlein , Christopher G. Burton & Ginni Melton
(2006) The Long Road Home: Race, Class, and Recov-
ery from Hurricane Katrina, Environment: Science and
Policy for Sustainable Development, 48:2, 8-20, DOI:
10.3200/ENVT.48.2.8-20
[23] Climate Justice: NAACP
[24] Shonko, Seth B., et al. The climate gap: environmental
health and equity implications of climate change and mit-
igation policies in Californiaa review of the literature.
Climatic change 109.1 (2011): 485-503.
[25] Moench, Marcus. Tyler, Stephen. A Framework for
Urban Climate Resilience. Climate and Development.
2012 , 4:4.
12
[26] Coaee, Jon. Towards Next-Generation Urban Re-
silience in Planning Practice: From Securitization to In-
tegrated Place Making. Planning Practice and Research
28:3. 2013.
[27] O'Hare, Paul; White, Iain; Connelly, Angela (2015-09-
01). Insurance as maladaptation: Resilience and the
business as usual paradox. Environment and Plan-
ning C: Government and Policy: 0263774X15602022.
doi:10.1177/0263774X15602022. ISSN 0263-774X.
[28] Roberts, Timmons (2009), The International Dimension
of Climate Justice and the Need for International Adap-
tation Funding, Environmental Justice, 2:4.
[29] Lebel, L., Anderies, J. M., Campbell, B., Folke, C.,
Hateld-Dodds, S., Hughes, T. P. and Wilson, J. 2006.
Governance and the Capacity to Manage Resilience in Re-
gional Social-Ecological Systems. Ecology and Society,
11(1):19. Retrieved from http://www.ecologyandsociety.
org/vol11/iss1/art19/
[30] Satterthwaite, D., Huq, S., Pelling, M., Reid, H., &
Lankao, P.R. (2007). Adapting to Climate Change in Ur-
ban Areas: The Possibilities and Constraints in Low- and
Middle-Income Nations. International Institute for Envi-
ronment and Development, Discussion Paper
[31] Keim, Mark. Building Human Resilience: The Role of
Public Health Preparedness and Response As an Adapta-
tion to Climate Change. American Journal of Preventive
Medicine. 2008, 35:5.
[32] Woodru et al. Climate Change and Human Health: Re-
view of the Evidence. Australian and New Zealand Jour-
nal of Public Health, 30. 2006.
[33] Srinivasan et al. Creating Healthy Communities, Healthy
Homes, Healthy People: Initiating a Research Agenda
on the Built Environment and Public Health. American
Journal of Public Health, 93. 2003.
[34] Adger, W. N., Arnell, N. W., & Tompkins, E. L.
(2005). Successful adaptation to climate change across
scales. Global Environmental Change. Doi:10.1016/j.
gloenvcha.2004.12.005
[35] Satterthwaite, D. (2013). The political underpinnings of
cities accumulated resilience to climate change. Envi-
ronment and Urbanization, 25, 381391. Doi:10.1177/
0956247813500902
[36] Berkhout, Frans, Julia Hertin, and David M. Gann. 2006.
Learning to Adapt: Organisational Adaptation to Cli-
mate Change Impacts. Climatic Change 78: 13556
[37] Mertz, Ole, Kirsten Halsnaes, Jrgen E Olesen, and Kjeld
Rasmussen. 2009. Adaptation to Climate Change in
Developing Countries. Environmental management 43:
74352.
[38] Moser, C., & Stein, A. (2010). Pro-Poor Adaptation to
Climate Change in Urban Centers : Case Studies of Vul-
nerability and Resilience in Kenya and Nicaragua. World
Bank.
5 REFERENCES
[39] adaptOakland. CA PROPOSITION 84 URBAN
GREENING PLANNING GRANT for ADAPT OAK-
LAND. Web. 12 Mar 2014. <http://adaptoakland.org/
wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2PageLongProjectBrief-
ForYouToKnow.pdf>
[40] OBrien, Karen, Siri Eriksen, Linda Sygna, and Lars
Otto Naess. 2006. Questioning Complacency: Climate
Change Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptation in Nor-
way. Ambio 35: 5056.
[41] CA.gov, Strategic growth plan bond accountability:
proposition 84 overview. Web. 11 Mar 2014. <http:
//bondaccountability.resources.ca.gov/p84.asp&xgt>
[42] Baker, C. Richard. 2014. Breakdowns of Account-
ability in the Face of Natural Disasters: The Case of
Hurricane Katrina. Critical Perspectives on Account-
ing. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S1045235414000367
[43] Unfccc. 2007. Climate Change: Impacts, Vulnerabil-
ities and Adaptation in Developing Countries. United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: 68.
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/publications/impacts.
pdf.
[44] Prins, Gwyn. 2011. Climate Change: Beyond Kyoto.
Nature 474: 57677.
[45] Rabe, Barry G. 2007. Beyond Kyoto: Climate Change
Policy in Multilevel Governance Systems. Governance
20: 42344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.
2007.00365.x.
[46] Rajamani, Lavanya. 2011. THE CANCUN CLIMATE
AGREEMENTS: READING THE TEXT, SUBTEXT
AND TEA LEAVES. International and Comparative
Law Quarterly 60: 499519
[47] Oberthr, Sebastian. 2011. Global Climate Governance
after Cancun: Options for EU Leadership. The Interna-
tional Spectator 46: 513.
[48] Chawla, Ambika, Climate Justice Movements Gather
Strength, WorldWatch, State of the World. 2009.
[49] Malako, David. Obama to Propose $1 Bil-
lion Climate Resilience Fund. Sciencemag.org.
http://news.sciencemag.org/climate/2014/02/
obama-propose-1-billion-climate-resilience-fund.
15, February 2014.
[50] EPA. Climate Impacts and Adaptation Examples in
the Southwest. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/
impacts-adaptation/southwest-adaptation.html.
[51] King et al. 2012. The Response of China, India, and
Brazil to Climate Change. Smith School of Enterprise
and the Environment. University of Oxford.
 13

6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1 Text
Climate resilience Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_resilience?oldid=703913532 Contributors: William M. Connolley,
Vsmith, Wtmitchell, BD2412, Bgwhite, Wavelength, Arthur Rubin, A. Parrot, JohnInDC, Inks.LWC, David Eppstein, Metrowestjp, Mild
Bill Hiccup, Arjayay, Jim1138, Gaba p, JDDJS, Ego White Tray, Kevin Gorman, NewsAndEventsGuy, Prokaryotes, Scott822, Quokka-
roo, Ovaltine Carter, Ryan (Wiki Ed), Drosenbaum55, Srednuas Lenoroc, Tomstar crunch and Anonymous: 17

6.2 Images
File:Abaco_Islands_15ft_4p572_shaded.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Abaco_Islands_15ft_
4p572_shaded.png License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Lithium6ion
File:Climate_Resilience_Model.PNG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Climate_Resilience_Model.
PNG License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Quokka-roo
File:Delhi_Aerial_View,_Satellite_Image,_India_September_2003.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/6/65/Delhi_Aerial_View%2C_Satellite_Image%2C_India_September_2003.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=8463 Original artist: NASA
File:GNI_PPP_Per_Capita.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/GNI_PPP_Per_Capita.png License:
CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Sbw01f
File:Housing,_Kenya_2006._Photo-_AusAID_(10704025714).jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/
Housing%2C_Kenya_2006._Photo-_AusAID_%2810704025714%29.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: Housing, Kenya 2006.
Photo: AusAID Original artist: Department of Foreign Aairs and Trade
File:Juncture_of_three_main_rivers_in_Ningbo_China.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/
Juncture_of_three_main_rivers_in_Ningbo_China.jpg License: CC BY-SA 2.0 Contributors: DSCN5691 Original artist: Jiong Sheng
from Winchester, United Kingdom
File:New_Orleans_USACE-17th_Canal-A-09-04-05_0004.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/
New_Orleans_USACE-17th_Canal-A-09-04-05_0004.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Phoenix_skyline_Arizona_USA.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Phoenix_skyline_Arizona_
USA.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

6.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0