Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment

Training Guide for Cities

Cities around the world are already feeling the impacts of climate change, facing severe hazards such as from cyclones, floods and rising sea levels, to wildfires, droughts and heat waves. With more than two-thirds of the global world’s population expected to live in cities by 2050 and most climate-related hazards set to intensify and become more frequent, it is vital for cities to take critical action now to build resilience against climate change.

A fundamental first step for local authorities to build resiliency to the impacts of climate change is to conduct a city-wide climate risk and vulnerability assessment (CRVA). This will serve as the basis for developing necessary solutions through a suite of plans, programs and policies. A city-wide CRVA is a requirement of the Global Covenant of Mayors, a key component of the CDP-ICLEI Cities Questionnaire on CDP-ICLEI Track and is incentivised through CDP Scoring.

Recognising the need for cities to develop comprehensive CRVAs and build their resilience, especially in Asia where many cities are particularly vulnerable to climate hazards such as flooding and extreme heat, CDP conducted a capacity building program in 2021. This program was supported by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, aimed at enabling local authorities in Asia to increase their understanding of climate risks and vulnerability at the city-level. The objectives of this program were to provide city government officials with:

1. Increased understanding of climate hazards, risks and vulnerability at the city level
2. Increased ability to conduct CRVAs and report them
3. Increased knowledge of the significance of CRVAs as part of wider city climate adaptation and resilience planning, action and financing

We have produced a resource pack providing a summary of the key learnings from CDP’s capacity-building program, with additional case studies and resources. It is intended as a training guide for cities on conducting their climate risk and vulnerability assessment. Three city case studies from Quezon City in the Philippines, Surat in India, and Trondheim in Norway, have been selected as best practise examples from Southeast Asia, South Asia and Europe respectively, to provide a regional and global perspective. While the program was focussed on cities in Asia, this training guide may be utilised used by cities globally.

As a supplement to the CRVA training guide, cities may utilise the Reporting Template developed by C40 Cities as part of the C40 Rapid Climate Change Risk Assessment Module to input the results of their CRVA.