Glossary

“In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects.” (IPCC, 2018) There are two types of Adaptation: Incremental adaptation and Transformational adaptation.

“The point at which an actor’s objectives (or system needs) cannot be secured from intolerable risks through adaptive actions. Hard Adaptation limit: No adaptive actions are possible to avoid intolerable risks. Soft Adaptation limit: Options are currently not available to avoid intolerable risks through adaptive action.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Biological diversity means the variability among living organisms from all sources, including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems” (Convention on biological diversity, 2006)

“Climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings such as modulations of the solar cycles, volcanic eruptions and persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphereor in land use. Note that the Framework Convention on Climate change (UNFCCC), in its Article 1, defines Climate change as: ‘a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.’ The UNFCCC thus makes a distinction between Climate change attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition and climate variability attributable to natural causes. “ (IPCC, 2018)

“Purposeful mechanisms and measures aimed at steering social systems towards preventing, mitigating, or adapting to the risks posed by Climate change (Jagers and Stripple, 2003).”  (IPCC, 2018)

“Justice that links development and human rights to achieve a human-centred approach to addressing Climate change, safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable people and sharing the burdens and benefits of Climate change and its impacts equitably and fairly.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Severe alterations in the normal functioning of a community or a society due to hazardous physical events interacting with vulnerable social conditions, leading to widespread adverse human, material, economic or environmental effects that require immediate emergency response to satisfy critical human needs and that may require external support for recovery.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Equity in the consequences, outcomes, costs and benefits of actions or Policies. In the case of Climate change or climate Policies for different people, places and countries, including Equity aspects of sharing burdens and benefits for Mitigation and Adaptation.” (IPCC, 2018)

“An Ecosystem is a functional unit consisting of living organisms, their non-living environment and the interactions within and between them. The components included in a given Ecosystem and its spatial boundaries depend on the purpose for which the Ecosystem is defined: in some cases they are relatively sharp, while in others they are diffuse. Ecosystem boundaries can change over time. Ecosystems are nested within other ecosystems and their scale can range from very small to the entire biosphere. In the current era, most ecosystems either contain people as key organisms, or are influenced by the effects of human activities in their environment.” (IPCC, 2018)

“The idea that all groups of people deserve to live in a clean and safe environment.” (ENVIRONMENT | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary, 2018)

“A principle that ascribes equal worth to all human beings, including equal opportunities, rights, and obligations, irrespective of origins.”  (IPCC, 2018)

“Equity is the principle of Fairness in burden sharing and is a basis for understanding how the impacts and responses to Climate change, including costs and benefits, are distributed in and by society in more or less equal ways. It is often aligned with ideas of Equality, Fairness and Justice and applied with respect to Equity in the responsibility for, and distribution of, climate impacts and Policies across society, generations, and gender, and in the sense of who participates and controls the processes of decision-making.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Impartial and just treatment without favoritism or discrimination in which each person is considered of equal worth with equal opportunity.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Ensuring Equity in that women and men have the same rights, resources and opportunities. In the case of Climate change Gender equity recognizes that women are often more vulnerable to the impacts of Climate change and may be disadvantaged in the process and outcomes of climate policy.”(IPCC, 2018)

“It is supposed to designate public order, the interest of the people or the priority of administrative decisions over private and sectoral interests, individual rights and contracts between individuals.” (Crétois, Roza, 2017, translated by Léna MELEDO) This is a definition made by two french scientists, which means that it may not correspond to the General Interest definition of other countries.

“A comprehensive and inclusive concept of the full range of means for deciding, managing, implementing and monitoring Policies and measures. Whereas government is defined strictly in terms of the nation-state, the more inclusive concept of Governance recognizes the contributions of various levels of government (global, international, regional, sub-national and local) and the contributing roles of the private sector, of nongovernmental actors, and of civil society to addressing the many types of issues facing the global community.”  (IPCC, 2018)

“The potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event or trend that may cause loss of life, injury, or other health impacts, as well as damage and loss to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provision, ecosystems and environmental resources.”  (IPCC, 2018)

“An approach to combating the exclusion of persons with disabilities that is not limited to removing the formal barriers to their involvement in society but goes on to deal with functional and structural barriers.”  (IPCC, 2018)

“ Adaptation that maintains the essence and integrity of a system or process at a given scale. In some cases, Incremental adaptation can accrue to result in Transformational adaptation (Termeer et al., 2017; Tàbara et al., 2018).”

“Uneven opportunities and social positions, and processes of discrimination within a group or society, based on gender, class, ethnicity, age, and (dis)ability, often produced by uneven development. Income Inequality refers to gaps between highest and lowest income earners within a country and between countries.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Equity between generations that acknowledges that the effects of past and present emissions, vulnerabilities and Policies impose costs and benefits for people in the future and of different age groups.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Justice is concerned with ensuring that people get what is due to them, setting out the moral or legal principles of Fairness and Equity in the way people are treated, often based on the ethics and values of society.” (IPCC, 2018)

Emission Reduction: "A human intervention aimed at lowering emissions or bolstering the absorption of greenhouse gases." (IPCC, 2018) Emission Reduction Measures: "In the realm of environmental policy, measures to reduce emissions encompass technologies, processes, or practices that aid in emission reduction, such as renewable energy technologies, waste minimization processes, and public transport commuting practices." (IPCC, 2018)

“The consequences of events triggered by natural hazards that overwhelm local response capacity and seriously affect the social and economic development of a region.” (UNTERM, 2018)

“Policies are taken and/or mandated by a government – often in conjunction with business and industry within a single country, or collectively with other countries – to accelerate Mitigation and Adaptation measures. Examples of Policies are support mechanisms for renewable energy supplies, carbon or energy taxes, fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, etc.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Equity in the process of decision-making, including recognition and inclusiveness in participation, equal representation, bargaining power, voice and equitable access to knowledge and resources to participate.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Property Level Protection (PLP), which is also referred to as property level Resilience, are measures that can be taken to reduce the impact of flooding. They can be categorised into the following two groups: Flood Resilience is about reducing the damage to the inside of your property once water has got in and speeding up the time it takes to recover after a flood. Such measures that can be taken include using porous plaster, fitting solid floors or tiled floor coverings, raising electrics to preserve the electricity supply and taking simple steps in a flood event to move furniture and valuable possessions upstairs to lessen the damage flood water can cause. The aim is to ensure that if your home or business is flooded, you can get back up and running as soon as possible.  For example, fixtures and fittings are chosen so that they can easily be moved out of the way, whilst walls and floors can be quickly washed down. Flood resistance measures involve trying to stop the water entering the property in the first place. These can usually be fitted to the outside of a property to prevent or limit the flood water getting in and can include flood boards, air brick covers, non-return valves and pumps, as well as work to ensure that the fabric of the property is sound.” (Protecting My Property « Blue Pages, 2018)

A public policy is a “strategic action carried out by a public authority in order to mitigate or promote certain phenomena occurring in the population”. (Morestin, 2018) In other words, Public policies are measures put in place by governments to improve people’s quality of life.

“The capacity of social, economic and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain their essential function, identity and structure while also maintaining the capacity for Adaptation, learning and transformation.”(IPCC, 2018)

“The potential for adverse consequences where something of value is at stake and where the occurrence and degree of an outcome is uncertain. In the context of the assessment of climate impacts, the term Risk is often used to refer to the potential for adverse consequences of a climate-related Hazard, or of Adaptation or Mitigation responses to such a Hazard, on lives, livelihoods, health and well-being, ecosystems and species, economic, social and cultural assets, services (including Ecosystem services), and infrastructure. Risk results from the interaction of Vulnerability (of the affected system), its exposure over time (to the Hazard), as well as the (climate-related) Hazard and the likelihood of its occurrence.” (IPCC, 2018) When a territory is facing various risks, we will use the term multi-risks.

“Just or fair relations within society that seek to address the distribution of wealth, access to resources, opportunity, and support according to principles of Justice and Fairness.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Agreement between and support for the members of a group.” (Cambridge Dictionary) This definition can be completed by another one: “Social Solidarity is closely related to social cohesion and is the idea of a well-integrated functioning society where all members have been socialised into its shared norms and values”(tutor2u).

“A dynamic process that guarantees the persistence of natural and human systems in an equitable manner.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987) and balances social, economic and environmental concerns.” (IPCC, 2018)

“Adaptation that changes the fundamental attributes of a socio-ecological system in anticipation of Climate change and its impacts.” (IPCC, 2018)

“The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. Vulnerability encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt.” (IPCC, 2018)