Climate security across scales

Addressing growing needs of cooling: a multi-scale hierarchical cooling framework Extreme heat has become one of the fastest growing stressors on both power systems and human health. Conventional adaptation has centered on expanding air-conditioning (AC) capacity, yet this approach amplifies peak electricity demand, strains grids during heat waves, raises energy costs, and leaves large portion of populations vulnerable to outages. In the last few decades, building science has produced isolated advances- from urban shading and reflective envelopes to passive and localized building solutions and personal cooling devices but these remain fragmented. We aim to integrate these scattered domains into a multi-scale hierarchical cooling framework that links interventions across scales—from urban design and building resilience to room-level and personal strategies. Through collaborations with U.S. and international researchers, we are exploring this framework. Ten questions concerning thermal resilience of buildings and occupants for climate adaptation. https://lnkd.in/gVs76ctK Cooling people, not spaces: Surmounting the risks of air-conditioning over-reliance. https://lnkd.in/gt-rHKrt Thermal resilience of buildings and communities: A multi-stakeholder review of metrics and approaches. https://lnkd.in/gmxe6aKd City scale - Cooling Los Angeles. coming ... City scale - Mapping Heat Vulnerability in Cities: A Tale of Two California Cities. https://lnkd.in/gc9WF-Uj District scale - Quantifying the Energy Impact of Heat Mitigation Technologies at the Urban Scale. https://lnkd.in/gJxmNux6 Building scale - Assessing Thermal Resilience of an Assisted Living Facility during Heat Waves and Cold Snaps with Power Outages. https://lnkd.in/g-rMQuQS Room scale - Cool Rooms for Indoor Heat Resilience: Evaluating Affordable Cooling Strategies in Heat-Stressed California Homes. https://lnkd.in/g2Dw2hwg Cooling shelter - Evaluating indoor thermal resilience of passive and low-power cooling shelters for outdoor workers in India Human scale - A prototype cooling blanket for mitigating occupant overheating risk in a hot indoor environment: Modeling and assessments. https://lnkd.in/gS2XAXye Mat Santamouris, Jeetika Malik, Kaiyu Sun, Max Wei, Yilin Jiang, Wanni Zhang, Amanda Krelling, Dorit Aviv, Da Yan, Yi Wu, Ashok Gadgil, Hui Zhang, Nathaniel Jones, Roberto Lamberts, Christopher Perry, Yujie Xu

Climate risks don’t act alone, especially in vulnerable regions. They combine with political tensions, livelihood stress, and weak institutions to create complex, fast-moving challenges for peace and human security. And so, we need tools that can answer critical questions faced by practitioners today: 🔹 Where is climate amplifying conflict and insecurity? 🔹 How do shocks to food, water, and livelihoods drive tension? 🔹 How can we integrate community knowledge with data for early warning? 🔹 What gaps in policy or institutions stall effective response? This is why my colleagues and I developed the Integrated Climate Security Framework (ICSF) - a tool to inform real-world decisions in fragile and climate-vulnerable settings. So what can our integrated framework do in the field? ✔️ Help target interventions in climate-security hotspots ✔️ Profile vulnerable groups with layered socio-economic and exposure data ✔️ Understand how food and nutrition insecurity mediates conflict risk ✔️ Reveal policy and institutional gaps that shape (or stall) adaptation ✔️ Build shared understanding across stakeholders—from local to national The ICSF was applied in many countries across the globe, but was designed to be adapted. If you’re a practitioner, implementer, or policymaker working on climate and security, it may offer a useful structure for your context too. 📄 We published the framework on PLOS Climate. Read here: https://lnkd.in/e8djSPUG

“With the scarcity of rain and destruction of forests, we started having conflicts over resources. When the rains did arrive, they caused flooding as the cliffs that protected us eroded due to deforestation," I believe there are no stronger words than those of the people most affected to convey the realities they face and the responses required. This story from Mali provides a rare glimpse. "We re-established our traditional laws for sustainable use of forests. Since then, trees and forests have begun to regenerate, reducing conflicts and floods. Now, people in towns like Djénné and Mopti are also following our model.” – Salif Aly Guindo, President of Barahogon, a traditional Dogon institution revitalised to protect forests and natural resources In Mali, the impacts of climate change are not only environmental but also profoundly interlinked with peace and security. This new story illustrates how integrated climate action can strengthen resilience, support livelihoods and ease pressures that exacerbate fragility. The voices of Mali’s communities – from forest guardians and women leaders to farmers – remind us that when climate responses are tied to adaptation, governance, and peacebuilding, they can become powerful pathways to stability and prosperity. #ClimatePeaceSecurity (Story from UNDP & UNDP Mali) Parth Joshi, Adam Maiga, Jennifer Baumwoll, Catherine Wong, Serge Ndjekouneyom, Pierre Célestin BENGONO, Jean de Dieu Djasnan DJERAIBAYE, Roland Seri, Aimee Brown, Mehmet Erdogan, Kate Jean Smith, Lieneh Modalal, Dr. Charles Nyandiga, Daisy Mukarakate, Dorine Jn Paul, Valentin Hervouet, Nazanine Moshiri https://lnkd.in/e5agPQ5v

We often talk about climate change as a threat multiplier for conflict. But we rarely discuss how violent extremism actively destroys climate adaptation efforts. A vital new report from Dylan O'Driscoll and colleagues maps exactly how this vicious cycle plays out on the ground in northeastern Kenya. Based on extensive fieldwork in Garissa and Wajir counties, the authors identify 11 distinct linkages between climate stress and violent extremism (VE), which cluster around four core elements: ⏩ Livelihood Destruction: Recurrent droughts and floods wipe out pastoral economies, making desperate individuals vulnerable to VE actors who step in to offer food, wages, or loans. ⏩ Altered Mobility: Climate-forced migration pushes communities into remote, insecure areas where state presence is weak and VE groups operate and exploit vulnerabilities. ⏩ Breakdown of Social Systems: Widespread asset loss destroys traditional community safety nets, creating isolation and a loss of status that extremist groups exploit. ⏩ Governance Voids: Climate shocks overwhelm weak public services, fueling state-directed grievances that VE actors use to build legitimacy by filling the void. Crucially, the report shows that the presence of extremist actors makes it nearly impossible for the state to deliver adaptation programs. Security isn't just a byproduct of climate adaptation; it is a prerequisite for it. Excellent, field-driven research by Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, Joel Busher, Wilson Ndenyele, Dylan O'Driscoll, and Sheila Ronoh. What do you think? Where else are we seeing climate adaptation projects fail because they ignore underlying security and governance voids? #ClimateSecurity #ClimateAdaptation #Governance

The Australian Government has released its first climate risk assessment and adaptation plan... If this does not act as a wake-up call, what will? Australia must match adaptation with ambition. Our 2035 emission reduction target needs to be THE opportunity to show bold leadership, protect ecosystems, and stand as a global example Here are some key insights: The Economic lens 💰Rising costs and lost value: By 2050, over 1.5 million Australians will live in high-risk coastal zones, making home uninsurable, property value will collapse, and infrastructure liabilities will surge. 📉 Productivity under threat: Extreme heatwaves are set to quadruple, increasing health risks, reducing labour output, and driving up energy costs for cooling. ⛓️💥 Fragile supply chains: Climate shocks to agriculture, transport, and trade will ripple across the economy, raising volatility and exposing businesses to stranded assets. Without urgent emissions cuts and systemic adaptation, climate change is not just an environmental issue – it is a trillion-dollar risk to Australia’s economy and competitiveness. The Social lens 🏠 Communities at risk: the sea level rise and flooding will lead to mass displacement and loss of homes impacting 1.5 million people. 👩⚕️ Health under pressure: Extreme heat, bushfires, floods, and diseases will put growing strain on health systems, with the elderly, children, and outdoor workers most at risk. ⚖️ Inequality deepens: First Nations peoples, disadvantaged households, and remote communities will face disproportionate impacts, threatening cultural heritage, wellbeing, and social cohesion.  Addressing interconnected, multi-scale risks across diverse systems (economy, infrastructure, natural environment, health, communities, and national security) each with unique vulnerabilities and exposures that compound and cascade impacts will be the challenge. This requires coordinated governance, robust climate science, inclusive engagement (notably with First Nations peoples), and integration of adaptation within existing policy, regulatory, and investment frameworks to avoid maladaptation and enhance resilience. Call to action 1. Strengthen leadership and governance by clarifying roles and responsibilities across government levels and sectors, embedding climate risk disclosure and adaptation mandates, and fostering collaborative, place-based, and culturally appropriate adaptation approaches. 2. Mobilise climate-aligned finance and private sector engagement by expanding mandatory climate risk disclosure, developing sustainable finance taxonomies, and aligning public and private investment to resilience projects. 3. Build social and health system resilience with targeted adaptation for vulnerable populations (including low-income, Indigenous, elderly, disabled, and remote communities), integrating health equity in climate policies, and strengthening disaster preparedness and recovery capacity. 

When the tide rises in the Sundarbans, it doesn’t check Google Maps before lapping at Kolkata. Last week, I was deep in conversation with a colleague about climate resilience, and we kept circling back to one truth: Nature doesn't recognize municipal boundaries. The recent insights in @Down to Earth highlight something we've long known but often sideline in urban planning: Kolkata’s climate security is directly tied to the health and survival of the Sundarbans. The cyclones that batter the mangroves are the same that flood Kolkata’s streets. The sea level rise drowning delta villages is part of the same chain that threatens Kolkata’s water table. And yet, policies and planning often treat them as two separate silos. As a sustainability consultant and civil engineer, I see this challenge as a massive opportunity—for regional collaboration, ecosystem-level planning, and climate budgeting that spans beyond the urban comfort zones. Shouldn’t our combat strategy be integrated if the risks are? Let’s start treating delta resilience as an urban priority. Let’s see mangrove restoration as a city defense mechanism. Let’s invest in long-term regional adaptation—not just reactive infrastructure. Kolkata’s future isn’t just on smart roads and greener rooftops. It’s in how well we protect the Sundarbans. #ClimateSecurity #Sundarbans #Kolkata #NatureBasedSolutions #UrbanResilience #ClimateAdaptation #MangroveProtection #IntegratedPlanning #Sustainability #Constructivist #ClimateStrategy #CoastalCities #ESG

Ports are climate-critical infrastructure and climate risk is increasingly compound. Across Europe, ports are exposed to multiple climate hazards at once: windstorms, flooding, and intense rainfall that increasingly co-occur, amplifying impacts well beyond what single-hazard assessments capture. By using compound risk analysis, a new study indicates how joint probabilities and cascading effects translate climate signals into real-world impacts on infrastructure, operations, and economic systems. When applied to the European port system, this approach reveals what traditional assessments miss: 1️⃣ €360 million in additional direct damages each year (+35%) when compound effects are considered 2️⃣ €10 million in added service disruptions (+6%) 3️⃣ €100 million in expected annual losses underestimated when interactions between hazards and impacts are ignored Ports depend on: ✅ Multi-hazard monitoring ✅ Seamless integration of observations, forecasts and impact-based warnings ✅ Regional and continental coordination across interconnected assets This is precisely the ambition of Early Warnings for All #EW4ALL: ensuring that climate information is not only available, but translated into decisions that protect lives, livelihoods and critical economic infrastructure. Climate intelligence is no longer optional infrastructure. It is economic risk management at scale. Read more here 👇 https://lnkd.in/e_CPx46y