ACDI

AXA awards first research chair in Africa to UCT

Kirsty-editor — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 13:25:46 +0000

2016-11-15

African countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change. Existing developmental challenges, such as high levels of poverty, underinvestment in infrastructure and technology, increasing ecosystem degradation, and weak governance systems aggravate the burden of climate variability and change.

“The AXA Research Chair provides another established research chair in the area of climate change, alongside Bruce Hewitson’s Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation South African Research Chair (SARChI) in Climate Change, that will help to underwrite UCT’s ambition to contribute meaningfully to addressing African climate change issues,” says New.

Adverse impacts of global warming in southern Africa have already been detected. They include decreases in water availability, reduced agricultural production and food insecurity, and increased social and economic costs of extreme weather events.

AXA Research Fund has awarded its first research chair in Africa to the University of Cape Town. The new chair, in African Climate Risk, will be held by Professor Mark New, director of the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI). Worth R20.65 million (€1.35 million) over 15 years, the chair aims to make a significant change in the research field of African climate risk.

Assessing the impacts of climate change in southern Africa is of the utmost importance to economic and social development. However, the task is complicated by the disparity of climate model projections and the complexity of natural and societal systems. Much more expertise is needed across a wide range of areas, but the community of professionals and researchers working on climate change is relatively small throughout Africa.

Attracting the best African research talent

In the context of these challenges, the AXA Research Chair aims to produce scientifically innovative and cutting-edge research related to the intersection of climate change risks with African development issues. Additionally, it is aligned with the long-term research strategy of UCT in that it will help attract the best African talent to return to or remain in Africa, working on African issues. A new generation of researchers will be trained.

This is a successional chair: over the next 15 years, three to four research chairs will produce scientifically innovative and cutting-edge research related to the intersection of climate change risks with African development issue. Each successional chair will be expected to propose and undertake research in their own domain of expertise, building upon the achievements of their predecessor.

As the first chair holder, New is focusing his research on quantifying and understanding the changing risk of climate on water and food security in southern Africa; his aim is to determine how extreme events like floods, droughts and heat waves are changing with global warming.

“The focus of my tenure as AXA Research Chair is extreme climatic and weather events," New comments. "These cause some of the most damaging social and economic impacts, and are a key mechanism through which some the impacts of climate change are already being felt. Understanding how extremes are changing and how to respond to them is crucial to finding the near-term responses that we need in the face of a changing climate."

Multidisciplinary approach

To achieve his objectives, New is using a multidisciplinary approach that brings together expertise in climate and weather risk attribution, statistical sciences, hydrological and agricultural sciences, and economics. “There are two parts to the story in my research programme,” New specifies. “On one hand, we aim to figure out what proportion of the impact related to extreme events is due to global warming and what proportion is due to natural variability.”

To find out, New will compare climate models of the planet with or without global warming. By adding greenhouse gas effects and ocean warming separately, he will be able to estimate the difference in the intensity and frequency of extreme events in both scenarios. “The other part of the story is trying to determine how the severity of the impact depends on human activity on the ground. Is the way that people are managing the land affecting its vulnerability to droughts or floods, for instance?"

Both approaches are very innovative in New's field of research. The overall goal is to evaluate where investment to mitigate climate change risks should be allocated in order to maximise efficiency. For example, New’s results will help governments make decisions on how to build more resilience in the local systems. In this sense, his results will have crucial implications for public, private sector and civil society organisations. Close interactions with these actors will insure maximum societal impact of the research.

The AXA Research Fund is the scientific philanthropy initiative of global insurance leader AXA dedicated to boosting scientific progress and discoveries that contribute to understand and better prepare against environmental, life and socio-economic risks. It also encourages supported researchers public engagement to help feed the public debate.

Republished from UCT'S Research and Development website. This is a modified version of an article originally published on the AXA Research Fund website.

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Findings and Reflections from 2016 CIRCLE Visiting Fellows

Kirsty-editor — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 10:38:52 +0000

Date:

29 November 2016 -

1:00pm to 2:00pm

Venue:

ACDI Meeting Room, 6th Floor Geological Sciences Building, Upper Campus, UCT

Contact Person:

Leigh Cobban

Contact Email:

leigh.cobban@uct.ac.za

Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation

The CIRCLE programme provides support for Visiting Fellows (junior academic staff) from African universities to come to UCT for one year to undertake a research project related to climate change. Once they are back in their home institutions, the research project will continue via collaboration. The programme runs from 2014 to 2018. ACDI is coordinating UCT’s involvement as a Host University in the programme. UCT has hosted three CIRCLE fellows in 2016. As their fellowship is drawing to an end, this lunchtime seminar is a chance to hear about their research findings and their experiences of the CIRCLE programme.

Faridah Nalwanga is a Post-Masters fellow from Makerere University (MU) in Uganda. She will be sharing findings from her research on “Exploring the Vulnerability of ‘Enclave’ Communities to climatic changes in Protected Areas in Uganda: Evidence from Queen Elizabeth National Park - Kasese District".

Dr Olushola Fadairo is a Post-PhD fellow from University of Ibadan (UI) in Nigeria. He will be sharing findings from his research on “Broaching research on corruption in ecological fund management for climate change mitigation”.

Portia A. Williams is a Post-Masters fellow from the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute of the CSIR (STEPRI-CSIR) in Ghana. She will be sharing findings from her research on “Assessing the impact of climate change on agricultural production: the case of pineapple production in Ghana”.

Please join us to hear more about their research, home institutions and experiences of the CIRCLE programme. Please RSVP for this event for catering purposes, light snacks will be served.

Interannual to interdecadal variability of winter and summer southern African rainfall, and their teleconnections

Kirsty-editor — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 08:45:21 +0000

2016-11-07

Climate Science

By Bastien Dieppois, Benjamin Pohl, Mathieu Rouault, Mark New, Damian Lawler, and Noel Keenlyside • 2016

This study examines for the first time the changing characteristics of summer and winter southern African rainfall and their teleconnections with large-scale climate through the dominant time scales of variability. As determined by wavelet analysis, the austral summer and winter rainfall indices exhibit three significant time scales of variability over the twentieth century: interdecadal (15–28 years), quasi-decadal (8–13 years), and interannual (2–8 years). Teleconnections with global sea surface temperature and atmospheric circulation anomalies are established here but are different for each time scale. Tropical/subtropical teleconnections emerge as the main driver of austral summer rainfall variability. Thus, shifts in the Walker circulation are linked to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and, at decadal time scales, to decadal ENSO-like patterns related to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation. These global changes in the upper zonal circulation interact with asymmetric ocean-atmospheric conditions between the South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans; together, these lead to a shift in the South Indian Convergence Zone and a modulation of the development of convective rain-bearing systems over southern Africa in summer. Such regional changes, embedded in quasi-annular geopotential patterns, consist of easterly moisture fluxes from the South Indian High, which dominate southerly moisture fluxes from the South Atlantic High. Austral winter rainfall variability is more influenced by midlatitude atmospheric variability, in particular the Southern Annular Mode. The rainfall changes in the southwestern regions of southern Africa are determined by asymmetrical changes in the midlatitude westerlies between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

For the full paper please click here.

Newton fellow research presentation: Jellyfish in the global biogeochemical cycle and implications with climate change

Kirsty-editor — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 07:40:48 +0000

Date:

8 November 2016 -

1:00pm to 2:00pm

Venue:

ACDI Meeting Room, Geological Sciences Building 6th Floor, Upper Campus, UCT

Contact Person:

Claire van Wyk

Contact Email:

claire.vanwyk@uct.ac.za

Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation

There are increasing reports of problems with jellyfish blooms in coastal areas, heralding a need for improved understanding of the causes of these blooms and their role in marine environment. Jellyfish are currently poorly represented in biogeochemical models compared to other plankton groups. In this seminar Rebecca Wright, a Newton Fellow from the University of East Anglia presents her work on taking the first steps in adding jellyfish to a global biogeochemical model, and using it for case study on the Benguela Current System, investigating the influence of environmental fluctuations and over-fishing on jellyfish populations.

Moving from Adaptive to Transformative Capacity: Building Foundations for Inclusive, Thriving, and Regenerative Urban Settlements

Kirsty-editor — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 09:34:45 +0000

2016-11-01

Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation

By Gina Ziervogel, Anna Cowen and John Ziniades • 2016

The commitment to understanding the implications of a 1.5 °C global temperature warming limit has contributed to a growing realisation that transformative adaptation is necessary to avoid catastrophic environmental and social consequences. This is particularly the case in urban settlements where disconnection from the systems that support life is pervasive and injustice and inequality play out daily. This paper argues that in order to transform towards thriving social-ecological systems, transformative capacity needs to be strengthened. The paper builds on the rich literature of adaptive capacity, alongside concepts of transformation that are drawn from resilience theory, organisational change, and developmental psychology. Reconnection to life-support systems, agency, and social cohesion are put forward as three foundational aspects of transformative capacity. A transdisciplinary case study of the FLOW programme in the Bergrivier Municipality, South Africa, is used to explore how transformative capacity has been built in practice. The case study explores an innovative programme that works with unemployed urban youth, alongside the exploration and introduction of a community currency in the informal business sector, and strengthening cross-scalar interaction between the local municipality and youth. The paper suggests that working across sectors and scales in a transdisciplinary manner is a challenging endeavour but necessary for building inclusive, thriving, and regenerative urban settlements.

Click here to read the full paper.

How a climate crisis can lead farmers to joint planning and response

Kirsty-editor — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 10:45:13 +0000

2016-10-27

Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation

By Dr Stephanie Midgley

There is nothing like a major climate disaster to raise interest in the problem of climate change among farming communities. Farmers in many parts of the world have, in the last decade, strained under extended droughts and intense flooding. But farmers in southern Africa last experienced a major drought 30 years ago – and memories tend to fade – until the current devastating drought hit the farming community.

Farmers are deeply optimistic people. They have to be, considering the huge numbers of risks they have to deal with. And climate change is usually not anywhere near the top of their list of priority challenges. This seems strange to climate scientists, whose work shows clearly that the agricultural sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate change, particularly in water-scarce regions.

The current severe drought appears to have made the penny drop and role players are scrambling to deal with the crisis while assessing what needs to be done to create greater resilience. The message that more frequent climate disasters like droughts can be expected in future is also being taken seriously.

Constructive discussions

A team of researchers completed an assignment from South Africa’s Western Cape Government to develop a provincial climate change response strategy and to implement a framework for the agricultural sector. The SmartAgri Plan project began in August 2014, many months before the first signs of the drought appeared. But at the end of the project, in March 2016, the province and country were in the grip of a two-year drought.

This fortuitously provided an environment ripe for engagement on the issue of climate change and how to respond to it. From the start, the project remit was to engage thoroughly across the sector – and related sectors like water and environment – and across the province. The plan was to find out what farmers, government and others are already doing to deal with climate risks. But also, to find out what approaches and measures are needed to build climate resilience.

During the first rounds of engagement it became clear that dialogue between government and the farming communities is sensitive to issues of mistrust and misunderstanding. This emanates from past injustices and present policy uncertainties. The team was surprised at the willingness of all participants to hear each other and try find solutions which benefit everyone, in the context of farming and non-farming problems.

There was real concern for the fate of the most vulnerable farmers, often smallholder communities and new farmers, who needed more support. Equally, all types of farmers generally place a high premium on good catchment management, water management and fire management. Their role in platforms like water user associations and fire protection associations was acknowledged.

A coordinated response

This made a valuable contribution to the development of a plan which represents a road map for an integrated and inclusive response across a number of time scales. It is supported by scientific and local knowledge and experience, linking top-down policy guidance with practical bottom-up perspectives. Critically, disaster risk reduction and management is prioritised as a discrete strategic focus area needing greater attention. If this plan is well-resourced for implementation it will strengthen the ability of the sector to plan for and manage multiple interacting climate stresses and contribute to reducing vulnerability.

So far so good. Then, towards the end of 2015 and first half of 2016, the drought hit with a vengeance across the region especially the Western Cape’s west coast and central Karoo (a semi-desert in the southern interior of South Africa). Crop harvests failed with losses of 200 000 tonnes of wheat (50-100% per farm), 230 ha of potatoes and 15% of fruit, and numerous livestock. The knock-on impact was up and down the agricultural value chain, and for farming communities struggling with unemployment, was critical.

Relief was provided in the form of fodder assistance to the most desperate farmers, to feed around 17 000 cattle. The Western Cape provincial government convened a two-day provincial drought dialogue with all involved in June 2016. The aim was to discuss what else the provincial government could do to strengthen the response to the current and future droughts.

Agreement was reached on a set of 32 high priority interventions with further prioritisation of five actions. These focus on bridging finance for farmers to keep farmers on the land, optimising water usage, accurate drought forecasts, a social security net for vulnerable communities affected by the drought, and revisiting water management and policies currently hampering new infrastructure.

Looking ahead

Interestingly, the drought dialogue priorities correspond closely with the SmartAgri Plan. Rather than being confined to the strategic focus area on disaster management, they were spread widely across other focus areas as well. They intersected strongly with natural resources like, soil and water management. They focused on proactive joint planning and coordination, information and communications, regulatory and financial barriers, and social vulnerability.

The role of government in creating a cooperative and supportive environment emerged as the key requirement for building resilience. The provincial government has taken the recommendations forward into further planning and implementation, together with the SmartAgri Plan.

There is certainly value in bringing all involved to the discussions. Government officials, farmers and their leadership, and others like water and conservation managers come together around a table. They jointly built strategies around how to respond to current and future climate challenges. The drought has provided an opportunity to focus minds, acknowledge the urgency of action and identify priorities.

It has also reinforced the understanding that coordinated joint planning and partnerships which enable the much needed shift from typical responses to prevention are required. Everyone would prefer the building of greater resilience to climate stress and disasters compared to the current unsustainable reliance on government relief.

The time to make it happen is now. And hopefully the role players will keep talking and listening. This will build capital based on trust and a common vision of a shared future.

Originally published by The Conversation.

Announcement of Opportunity: UCT – UEA Climate Change Researcher Exchange Scheme 2017

Kirsty-editor — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:02:16 +0000

2016-10-24

Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation

The ACDI, on behalf of the UCT climate change community, has been successful in a Newton Fund (NRF/RCUK) application for a PhD Partnering Programme on Climate Change between The University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of East Anglia (UEA). The aim of the partnership is to bring PhD students and their supervisors from both institutions together through visits of students and staff between the institutions. In addition to benefits for individual students, there is also a strategic aim of fostering long term collaborations between research groups and individuals.

The following specific focus areas were identified as areas of particular (but not exclusively) synergy:

• Understanding the climate system, including the ocean and atmosphere
• Developing capacity to cope with a changing climate – in particular integrated modelling of impacts, and adaptation in a developing country context.

However, the scheme welcomes exchanges in other climate change related topics, including energy and mitigation.

In short, the Newton PhD Partnering Scheme will provide funds for 3 to 4 visits by UCT PhD students to UEA each year, 2016-2018, for periods of 3-6 months; and vice versa for UEA students to visit UCT. There is also funding available for one faculty or senior research staff member trip each way per year. Where possible, students will visit in cohorts to facilitate integration.

In 2017 UCT aims to send 2-3 PhD researchers to visit UEA. As a first step we ask that supervisors and PhD researchers discuss this opportunity, and to make direct contacts with potential hosts at UEA. Please bear in mind the strategic long-term aspiration of this partnership when making contacts. This is also an advance notice to start thinking about partnering possibilities for PhD students and to think about joint PhD projects for 2018 and 2019 that can leverage more strategically off this funding.

Criteria and Eligibility.
• Students should be working on topics within the broad areas of climate change described above.
• The visit should add specific value to the PhD student's research skills and experience (e.g. access to equipment and laboratories; attendance of a short course; supervision/advice by an expert not available at home institution)
• The visit should have the potential for either building on existing, or creating new, supervisor links.

Application Process.
To express interest for the 2017 cohort as well as interest for the programme more generally (2017- 2018), click here for further information. Queries can be directed to Leigh Cobban at leigh.cobban@uct.ac.za or 021 650 3846.

Announcement of Opportunity: UCT – UEA Climate Change Researcher Exchange Scheme

Kirsty-editor — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 07:59:50 +0000

Deadline:

2016-12-31

The following specific focus areas were identified as areas of particular (but not exclusively) synergy:

However, the scheme welcomes exchanges in other climate change related topics, including energy and mitigation.

We are proposing the first exchange start in early 2017 (outgoing UCT students) and end of August 2017 (incoming UEA students). These dates correspond with UEA’s Tyndall Centre PhD conference (and covers several other activities around that time, including a range of short courses).

In 2017 UCT aims to send 2-3 PhD researchers to visit UEA. As a first step we ask that supervisors and PhD researchers discuss this opportunity, and to make direct contacts with potential hosts at UEA. Please bear in mind the strategic long-term aspiration of this partnership when making contacts. This is also an advance notice to start thinking about partnering possibilities for PhD students and to think about joint PhD projects for 2018 and 2019 that can leverage more strategically off this funding.

Criteria and Eligibility.
• Students should be working on topics within the broad areas of climate change described above.
• The visit should add specific value to the PhD student's research skills and experience (e.g. access to equipment and laboratories; attendance of a short course; supervision/advice by an expert not available at home institution)
• The visit should have the potential for either building on existing, or creating new, supervisor links.

Application Process.
To express interest for the 2017 cohort as well as interest for the programme more generally (2017- 2018), click here for further information. Queries can be directed to Leigh Cobban at leigh.cobban@uct.ac.za or 021 650 3846.

Announcement of opportunity: DST-NRF Internships at ACDI in 2017-18

Kirsty-editor — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 09:30:02 +0000

Deadline:

2016-11-07

South African Honours and Masters students in their final year who are interested in interning at the ACDI in 2017 are encouraged to apply to the DST-NRF internship program.

ACDI has applied to be a host institution for DST-NRF Interns in 2017. ACDI has developed a collaborative training program to support the personal development of interns wishing to pursue a career in climate change and/or development. The internships are especially beneficial for graduates who are considering a career in research – whether you are considering further study, or are interested in areas of work related to research such as project management, fundraising or communication.

The internship program is designed to expose you to a wide range of experts, topics and tasks within research to help you prepare for the next stages in your career. You will also be expected to make meaningful contributions to ACDI’s ongoing operations and research, in line with your interests, disciplinary background and experience.

The internship runs from April 2017 – March 2018, though it may be ended sooner if you are commencing further study in 2018. The DST-NRF Internship program provides monthly salaries in line with your level of qualification:

• R 6 070 for a Bachelors graduate;

• R 6 750 for an Honours’ graduate; and

• R 8 050 for a Masters graduate.

Further funds are potentially available through ACDI to ‘top-up’ these salaries, in cases of financial need, or to start the internship at an earlier date. All salaries of enrolled interns will be subject to personal taxation.

Applications for the DST-NRF Internship program for 2017 are open until 7 November 2016. Read more about the DST-NRF Internship program and application process here. Apply through the NRF Online Submission System here.

Once you have applied through the NRF website, please email your CV and a one-page letter of motivation to Leigh Cobban (leigh.cobban@uct.ac.za). The letter should notify us of your application to the DST-NRF Internship program, and outline your interests in research relating to climate change and/or development. Placements are not guaranteed and the application will be subject to a standard competitive selection process.

If you have any questions about the internship program, please email Leigh Cobban (leigh.cobban@uct.ac.za).

Need some career advice?

Read through ACDI’s early-career blog series on finding meaningful work in the environment and development sectors here.
Read about Andrew Hall’s decision to intern and his experience as a DST-NRF Intern in 2016 here.

The University of Cape Town reserves the right to make no awards at all, to cancel the award if the conditions are not met, and to effect changes to the conditions of the award. The University of Cape Town reserves the right to disqualify ineligible, incomplete and/or inappropriate applications.

Successful ASSAR webinar on Adaptation Pathways

Kirsty-editor — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 09:06:57 +0000

2016-10-20

Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation

ASSAR, in collaboration with CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), organised a webinar on Adaptation Pathways on Friday 14 October 2016. A two-hour webinar was hosted by Professor Mark New from the African Climate and Development Initiative at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

The webinar discussed how climate change can be mainstreamed into decision-making. This process is complicated by the uncertainties in climate change projections and impacts. There is also a necessity for cooperation between public and private actors across. In addition, other drivers such as population growth, increasing economic volatility and modernisation interact with climate change to generate unexpected outcomes and shocks.

During the webinar, Dr Russell Wise from CSIRO gave an insightful presentation on what are adaptation pathways. Followed by his colleague, Dr James Butler’s presentation gave examples on how adaptation pathways are being used in practice. Dr Sumetee Pahwa Gajjar from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), discussed the definition of pathways in development with examples from India. IIHS and UCT are two of the five organisations that lead the ASSAR project.

Download the presentations below:

James Butler

Russell Wise

Sumetee Pahwa Gajjar

Click here to watch the webinar.