Complete Resource Library

A multi-stage process, implemented over several years, was the basis for the development of the overall scope of the Phase II work programme for the climate change rapid and systematic assessment. In 2008, Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi completed the first ever climate change vulnerability assessment for the emirate/nation. While several systems and sectors were screened as potentially highly vulnerable to climate change, the focus of this original assessment was only on coastal zones, water resources, and dryland ecosystems. Results were synthesised in the UAE‘s Second National Communication, which was submitted in 2010 to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The AGEDI launched a follow-up to this initial study in 2011 with the aim of establishing a climate change work programme that could build upon, expand, and deepen understanding of vulnerability to the impacts of climate change as well as to identify practical adaptive responses at local, national and regional levels. A five-stage stakeholder consultative process involving nearly 100 stakeholders helped define the overall scope of the programme, and establish the types of outputs that were considered to be the most useful for future policymaking at the multiple scales envisioned. The result of the process yielded a total of twelve highly integrated sub-projects organised around five strategic themes, which are being completed over a four-year time frame.