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1.4 USE OF TERMS
Climate change resilience is the capacity of an individual, community, or institution to dynamically
and effectively respond to shifting climate impact circumstances while continuing to function at an
acceptable level. Simply, it is the ability to survive, recover from, and even thrive in changing climatic
conditions. ACCCRN Website, www.acccrn.org
Resilience is the ability of a social or ecological system to absorb disturbances while retaining the same basic
structure and ways of functioning, the capacity for self- organisation, and the capacity to adapt to stress and
change. IPCC, Fourth Assessment Report, 2007.
Urban Climate Change Resilience UCCR is relatively new and constantly evolving. UCCR brings
together researches, policy makers, practitioners and community leaders from multiple disciplines
and backgrounds including climate science, development agencies, organizations working in hazard
mitigation, disaster risk reduction and emergency relief, global donors, and institutions focusing on
globalization, urbanization and sustainability. One of the distinguishing features of UCCR is its focus on
systems. Cities depend on both natural ecosystems and engineered services, draw on distant resources as
well as utilizing local resources to meet basic needs, and function through complex social and governance
systems which can result in the marginalization and increased vulnerability of groups within the community.
Cities form a complex web of inter-dependencies, whereby the functioning of the whole system relies
on the effective functioning of its constituent parts. ACCCRN Website, www.acccrn.org
Vulnerability is the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects
of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the character,
magnitude, and rate of climate variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive
capacity. IPCC, Third Assessment Report, 2001.
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UrBAnisAtion
And risK
proFiLe
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2.1 CITIES, RESOURCE BASE AND RISKS
Kategori