DNV COO Bjorn K. Haugland calls for risk-based framework on adaptation to climate change.

Speaking at the Global Business Day event at COP17, Bjorn K. Haugland, COO of DNV Sustainability and Innovation highlighted the need for a greater focus on adaptation to combat climate change. He called for adaptation measures that are “implemented timely and adequately” and stressed the need to use “risk-based frameworks to get adaptation right.”

“The changing climate will impose significant threats to infrastructures, human health, agriculture and other economic sectors, and as such could potentially result in setbacks and losses for business and society,” warned Haugland. “It is therefore paramount that adaptation measures are implemented timely and adequately to safeguard assets and resources for present and future generations.”

Addressing an audience of over 250 high level business executives and government representatives, Haugland acknowledged that adaptation and risk reduction have spawned business models which have helped drive change in lifestyles and attitudes. However he argued such models have a broader applicability in building climate resilience and certain fundamentals are necessary to “get it right”.

Bridging knowledge domains
“Sound adaptation decisions are a multidisciplinary challenge and if addressed by one discipline only, companies will get it wrong. Getting adaptation right is about linking expertise and competencies together. It involves the bridging of different knowledge domains such as climate science, economics, political science and engineering,” emphasised Haugland.

He continued, “Our study reveals that the quality of climate change risk analyses vary significantly.
Different global and regional climate models have limitations and if they are used and interpreted incorrectly they may result in gross errors. Poor climate change risk analyses can be caused by erroneous use of climate projection data or due to inferior risk analyses that do not properly account for correlation among events. Such problems make it very difficult to objectively compare climate change risks and therefore also make it difficult to plan appropriate adaptation efforts.”

Haugland stated that the planning of adaptation projects have to be based on knowledge about future climate risks “at the location of interest…The effects of climate change needs to be understood at local sites whether it be particular sectors, communities or infrastructures. Adaptation measures in turn need to be planned by public planners, economists and engineers,” he said and added, “Efforts need to be integrated in the planning of decision-makers, who set the overall development objectives as well as provide the means of implementation such as financing.

Handling uncertainties
“Decision-makers operate in very information-rich contexts and the scarce resource is typically not information but merely how to trust information, and make information meaningful and actionable. Adaptation is about handling uncertainties and a risk based framework to assist decision making is needed,” stressed Haugland.

Haugland went on to say that “adaptation decisions are made to prepare for events that may occur at a 20-50-100 year time scale so to get adaptation right, DNV is developing a risk-based framework to be published as a Recommended Practice early next year. We are working closely with internationally recognised researchers and institutions, and the combination of our disciplines will assure use of proper climate models (global, regional) so that climate effects may be downscaled and specified to local sites of interest.”

To test the risk-based framework, a number of cases have been selected to encompass a wide range of infrastructures and economic sectors, geographies and possible vulnerabilities to climate change.

New triple bottom line
In her opening remarks at the Global Business Day event, UNFCCC Executive Christiania Figueres also referred to the importance of adaptation by saying that “talks were proceeding very well on several fronts, including adaptation….we now have a new triple bottom line, namely mitigation, adaptation and eradicating poverty.”

“This is a positive development,” commented COO Haugland. “Clearly there is a need to explore how business can address resilience at a local or national level and I’m confident that this will open up new business opportunities going forward.”